What burns inside me
by CuteVampireCollie
Summary: I have someone else's heart inside me...yet I am still me. All I know is that I'm searching for someone important...important to me or to the other me, I do not yet know. I do at least know that the Organization's motives are still unclear. And then there's Roxas...Contains OCs. Don't like, don't read.
1. Prologue

"_Did you know that each star up there in the sky is its own world?" The young brunette pointed up at the sky with a wondrous smile on her face, her sky blue eyes glinting almost as brightly as the stars themselves. "Really?" The girl's younger brother looked up at the sky as well, his eyes beginning to shine alongside his sister's. "You're not making that up, are you Leda? Riku told me the same thing a couple days ago….you two aren't making fun of me again, are you?" The young, spiky-haired boy pouted cutely, making Leda laugh as she ruffled his adorable spikes._

"_Oh, my little forgetful Sora…Riku told you a few days ago and you're acting like this is the first time you've heard about any of this? No, we're not making it up. Remember the two people who came to Destiny Islands not too long ago? They told me and Riku what I'm telling you now." _

_Leda began walking along the sand, kicking off her shoes on the way, relishing the feel of the sand in between her bare toes. She giggled and then began to run, knowing full well Sora would follow her with more questions. She wouldn't have all the answers but she'd try her best to make her brother happy._

….

"_Hey, Sora… We'll be together forever, right?" The brunette clad in a red dress with white sleeves and a black hood connected to the dress alongside baggy, yellow boots looked at her brother with her head tilted to the side, making her pigtails flop into her face. Her brother laughed at the picture she made, making her give a mock frown. "Now why would you ask a question like that? Silly Leda…Of course we'll always be together. You're my sister. You think I would ever forget you?" Sora clasped his sister's hand in his, making her smile endearingly and giggle as a faint breeze tickled against their skin. _

_The seventeen-year-old girl didn't know why she felt the need to ask that question. But…recently something had felt off. She had never been much of a fortune-teller but something in the air just felt different. And not in a good way. Even with her brother's words…the feeling only eased a little. But she hadn't changed much from when she was little. Whatever it took to make Sora happy, she would do. She just hoped that whatever dark and menacing thing was coming for them…didn't get in her way of doing that. _

….

The hand holding her arm tightened its grip, causing Leda to flinch and instinctively try to get away. "What do you want from me? Who are you?" The silver-haired man grinned sadistically, an evil glint in his orange catlike eyes. "The real question here is…_what can you do for me?_ My name is of no importance. But you….Leda, are a rare sight to behold." He pushed her back into the rough bark of the palm tree behind her, smiling the whole while. "You are so young and pure hearted…yet the keyblade has not chosen you. I must know why that is."

He gave an impatient tug on her arm but Leda dug her heels fiercely into the sand, glaring at the man with pure venom and hatred in her eyes. She didn't know exactly who he was but the way he was making her heart pound told her that he must be one of the reasons why she and Sora got separated before he began his journey to the other worlds to try and save them. But…who was he?

The man's black, body-length cloak billowed around him, making him look as if darkness was not only emanating from him but also like he had been created from the very depths of the blackness itself. But Leda would stand her ground. Her heart might be pounding against her ribcage as fiercely as a horse's hooves against the race track and as fast as a hummingbird's wings but she refused to let her fear show, or get the better of her. People never made good decisions based on fear.

She looked off in the distance, the sun's rays beautifully enhancing everything they touched, and saw her brother looking happy and determined…his eyes full of hope. She knew he'd give anything to find Kairi. And she would do anything to make him happy…She wouldn't let anything get in his way of finding the girl he cared the most for. She'd do anything so he could have that outcome in his future.

Her fingers uncurled out of the fist her hand had currently been balled in, and her hand went limp in the man's grasp. "Will you leave him alone?" Her voice was quiet, nothing but a bare murmur as soft as the whispering wind. The man chuckled, low and deep in his throat, like a cat's haughty purr. "Of course. For now at least. But he wants to find that girl he cares so much for, does he not? If you come with me…that will give him just the head start he needs."

The brunette sighed, her eyebrows furrowing in mental anguish. She had also promised she would protect Sora. But if she went with this man…she'd be leaving him alone, defenseless. No…he had his keyblade. And Donald and Goofy. And not to mention Riku. They would take care of her little brother until she could return and do so herself once more. "Alright. I'll come with you. But you have to keep your word that you'll leave him alone at least for the time being."

She glared fiercely at him, her protective instincts as strong as mother lion's will to protect her cubs. "But of course," he repeated, his voice beginning to take on an eerie lull, which…for some reason, made Leda dizzy. She wanted to get one last glimpse of her brother, but…the world was becoming a canvas splashed with watercolor, all the colors blending together as they slowly faded.

When she awoke, her head was still spinning, taking timeless seconds to right the world in front of her eyes. She was now in a dark room…quite a contrast to the bright beach she had been on before. Her eyes strained to make out her surroundings, the first thing they happened to land on being a pair of black boots surrounded by a fluttering black coat. "Well, well…look at what our leader happened to find."

The man had long dark hair in a pony tail with a grey stripe running down it, somewhat like a skunk's, and an eye patch covering half of his face with a scar underneath it. All in all, he wasn't the prettiest sight Leda had ever seen. He roughly grabbed her chin with one of his gloved hands and smirked as she tried to pull away. "Ah, a feisty one. From what he's told us…it is an anomaly that they keyblade hasn't chosen someone like yourself. Yet, at least. And when it does…we'll have someone to collect our hearts for us. Well, someone _else._ It's no fun with just one keyblade wielder, now is it?"

Leda huffed at him, the glare never leaving her face. "What are you going on about? What's all this about collecting hearts and what does the keyblade have to do with any of it?"

"So our master's puppet speaks as well. She's not just a lifeless doll. Interesting." The strange man put a hand to his chin in serious thought, his small smirk growing wider with each passing second. "Don't worry…we'll make sure that in the times ahead you're provided with some fun, too." And with that, the man walked away leaving Leda more confused than ever. She realized with a jolt that her hands and feet were both bound with chains. And now that her eyes had had enough time to adjust she was now realizing she was in some sort of cellar, or perhaps basement.

A shiver of fear made her spine stiffen, her shoulders tensing against the concrete wall she lay propped up against. No. She wouldn't let the fear take over. She was doing this for Sora. He was quite literally the light of her life. If she didn't protect him…that light would go out, channeling the worlds into a corner of darkness so small, there'd be no way to ever get out. He wasn't only her savior, but everyone else's as well.

Her head shot up as footsteps echoed in the damp, eerie room and she was surprised to see a different man in front of her now. "Why, hello there. You must be my new test subject. It's nice to meet you." The blonde-haired man smirked. "Nice to meet you too, freak show. And who are you calling _test subject_? What are you planning to test me on, hmm? Or is some secret pertaining to your kind's diabolical plan?"

Leda sneered, only making the man's callous grin grow wider. "You actually might be the one." He pulled out a stethoscope and placed it on her chest, making her yelp at the instantaneous cold of the steel. Her glare was quickly back in place, only continuing to grow as the man murmured things to himself like, _"very nice…what a strong, steady beat that is…." "vitals seem to be better than average even under current conditions…" "time to test her physical limitations…"_

Her head shot up at the last comment, her diamond blue eyes narrowing in suspicion. "What? Test out my physical abilities? How exactly do you plan to that, smartass? You can't exactly keep me down here to do so." The man smirked. "I know that. So how about you follow me." He knelt down and released the both catches holding the locks to the chains around her. She stood up warily and shook of the bunches of rusted steel, stretching her limbs at the same time.

The man motioned toward the set of stairs he had come down and Leda's shoulders hunched defensively. She hated being bossed around. _Do it for Sora. Do it for Sora._ That was the mantra she forced on repeat in her head, knowing full well it would be the only thing to keep her sane from here on out. She had a feeling that whoever these nut jobs were…they didn't have the most obvious things in store for her. And where was the silver-haired man from before?

All these thoughts swirled inside her head as she let the man lead her up the stairs. She wasn't paying attention to what was going on around her until she was pushed forward, stumbling over her big, yellow boots to catch herself before she ended up doing a major face plant. They were in an open room with steel gray walls and a weird design on the floor. It looked like some sort of arena in a weird, twisted way.

She looked in every direction, neither of the men from before around, making her feel nervous. She was being tested, right? No need to be nervous. All she had to do was have a little faith. She curled and uncurled her fists to release some of her pent up tension and only half a second afterward, she was pummeled to the ground, having been attacked from behind.

She grunted and looked up, quickly releasing a stunned gasp. Some weird sort of creature was in front of her, moving its limbs like it was boneless, and moving quickly and agilely like a cheetah, but also floating and flipping around much like a dolphin. Leda felt her adrenaline go up a notch, kicking into overdrive and she leapt to her feet, dodging out of the way before the weird creature could land another hit.

The more steps she seemed to take, the more of these strange creatures seemed to appear and creep up on her. If it had just stayed fair game, she might have been able to take the creature out. But with all its look-alikes, she highly doubted it. She dodged, jumped, spun every which way, her fists and feet punching and kicking in numerous flurries of attacks. She felt them closing in on her but she dug her feet in, growled and shoved them all away with a physical force she wasn't even aware of possessing.

It didn't destroy the creatures but they stopped moving after that, not moving any closer toward her again, thank God. She couldn't take another closing-in like that. She gasped for breath, collapsing onto her knees as the aftershock of her adrenaline began to make her limbs go numb. The sound of applause brought her head back up, her pigtails flopping over her shoulders, making her look furiously indignant.

"Taking on one Dusk and defeating it isn't much to be proud of. But holding your own against a horde of them with no weapon whatsoever… I can see why you have Vexen intrigued." This time a slate-haired man was in front of Leda, a cynical expression on his face. Thank God…Leda didn't think she could take one more person sneering at her the way the other two had.

"Why are you all so interested in both me and the keyblade? What do I have to do with any of it?" With a cryptic tilt of the head, the man answered, "You might have more to do with it than any of us even believe. You maybe even have nothing to do with it and we're just following a false lead. It takes quite a bit to impress me and so far…you're managing to do so."

The man grasped her arm and began to drag her out of the room and into a set of maze-like hallways. It all looked so confusing. Like someone had done an architectural sketch after eating a butt load of sugar. It just looked….wrong somehow. Once again, Leda was then pushed forward, left cursing under hear breath as the silver-haired man walked away. She blew out a heavy breath, the wave of air catching her bangs and flipping them to the side of her face. "So….left alone again, huh?"

She looked around as soft, practically silent sounds began quietly echoing all around her. She backed up a couple of steps and turned toward the opposite direction. Still nothing. Her eyebrows furrowed. She knew something was here. But what…?

Dark shapes then began to emerge from the floor itself (which was fricking stainless steel!) and surround her just as the other creatures had. These ones seemed boneless too except they were black and smaller than the other ones had been. They had unnaturally bright yellow eyes and they moved like a cross between a spider and a monkey. Or like they were high. Something…

But there were more of them than there had been the first round. And they were ganging up on her. They seemed like actual shadows themselves. Whenever one would amble closer to her, one behind it would fade into the ground and end up closer to her as well, just at a different angle. How did you attack a shadow? Wait…these were the creatures that Sora had been fighting the night the storm had hit their island. But Sora had only been able to defeat them when they keyblade had appeared in his hands. And she didn't have one. She was royally screwed…

So she did the first thing her mind could think of. She ran. As fast as she could, looking behind her every now and again. Every other time she would look there wouldn't be anything behind her, but the times in between, the creatures would be even closer to her than before. She felt some of them clawing at her heels and she cringed, the dark poison from their claws burning her flesh. She turned her head back toward the direction she was running in and stopped dead in her tracks. Now the creatures were in front of her. She was trapped.

She fell to her knees as they all began climbing on her and clawing at her. Her skin, her hair, her clothes…everything was being tainted by the darkness…she could slowly feel herself withering away to nothing. She had to fight…but she was becoming so tired…her body feeling leaden and like it wasn't even her own anymore.

"Sora…" she murmured. "Sora!" She had promised she would protect him…and yet here she was failing him. And herself. She flailed, her limbs trying without success to push the darkness away. When her eyes were close to shutting for good, she saw a bright light. It wasn't just white, but it was a myriad array of colors. Red, blue, green, purple…she managed to weakly, barely lift her head to see a shape floating in midair, above her. She squinted, trying to make it out.

It was a heart…. Was it hers? How was she able to see it? She let her head fall back against the stone, cold floor, her eyes sagging shut for what would be the last time and managed to think of Sora once more…his smile, his kind heart, his strong sense of justice…. Even as she stopped breathing, her body being eaten alive by the darkness, her heart no longer in her body, literally making her a life-size doll…she knew that somehow she would continue to protect her little brother.

These freaks were able to get rid of her physically, but she'd find a way to come back. Even if it was just as a spirit, she'd continue to see her life's wish through. _Keep Sora safe…_

The creatures of darkness looked at the glittering speckles of stardust lighting up the space where their prey had just been. They looked around in curiosity. Where was their heart? They had ravaged the human's shell…now where was their reward? One of the creatures managed to look up as the others paced and ambled about in angry confusion. There…there it was, shining so brightly above them.

The shadows began to jump, all over one another even, to get to that magnificent, colorful energy-bursting heart. But right as one of the creature's claws reached out to grasp it, to tear into it…it faded away. The shadow landed with a plop on the floor, growing annoyed at the disappearance. The creatures all began to pace incessantly, trying in vain to somehow still reach that which they so desperately had believed would be theirs to devour.

The only thing that was now left with the creatures of darkness in the grey room was a yellow heart- shaped pendant that Leda had been wearing. It glittered faintly with the lingering remnants of Leda's essence, making the shadows stop and tilt their heads in curious wonder…

….

_All I could make out was the ocean…and somehow the sky as well. The sky was muted by the blue, suffocating waves of the water now engulfing me. I somehow managed to pry open my eyes and blinked at my surroundings. Just water…the fading sky getting darker and farther away with each passing second. Nothing but darkness surrounding me…and what felt like an endless abyss full of suffering below me. I could still feel those creature's claws at my skin, making me shudder, my blue eyes still carrying a blank, numb expression. _

_After what felt like years upon years later, I began to see something below me. It appeared to be stained glass. I closed my eyes and didn't open them again until I felt my feet touch the surface of the glass. And as my eyes shot silently open once more…I could tell that the heart beating inside my chest…wasn't mine._

….

Author's Notes: Okay…wow, it's taken me this long to get my darling Kingdom Heart's OC's story out…^^; Orz…Anyways, this is the story of Leda, Sora's sister, and a certain someone else. You'll find out soon enough. ^^ Hee, I love being cryptic. Although if you already know me, you'll know who the person at the ending was.~ This story is dedicated to my dear friends: Avidtty (who got me into Kingdom Hearts; thank you honey!~) and sadlonelylittlegirl who is now my beloved twin Xion. ;w; They both have motivated me and encouraged me to the point of being in their debt so I am thankful for their kindness and love towards me. ;W;

If you have any questions, critique, etc…please let me know in a review. I know this isn't perfect, but I'd love to know what you thought, how I could improve, your guesses at what will happen next….^^ So I hope you enjoyed and hopefully I'll get to work more on this soon.

I hope the way I started it out wasn't too confusing. I started out with flashbacks to show a little into Sora and Leda's past and also to give a sense of foreboding. Please let me know what you think. ;w;

Kingdom Hearts and its characters belong to Square Enix/Disney.

~CuteVampireCollie


	2. Chapter 1- The Birth of Darkness

Author's Notes: Alright….my introduction notes…First off, I would like to dedicate this fic to two of my friends. Aviditty and Sadlonelylittlegirl. They have inspired me and gotten me into Kingdom Hearts even more so, so thank you to both of them.

Now…the prologue was a bit confusing. Some of the things should make more sense here. Also…sorry about how sloppy it looked… does not keep my lovely breakers….Anywho, I also really had to screw with the Kingdom Hearts timeline. At first I was going to make this story happen a little before Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories and 358/2 days but now it's as if the other games don't exist. Kingdom Hearts is the only one that's happened so far….it's pretty much the least confusing, most understandable way this story could happen. But you might still see bits of Xion and Namine. Later on anyways….I don't know how exactly so ideas would be great. :3 It's like…the characters all still exist, just differently because I couldn't add the other games. Does that make sense?

Finally, I do not own Kingdom Hearts. Totally wish I did because then Xion would still be alive. Anyways…enjoy!~

_The girl's feet gently touched down onto the stained glass surface. She looked around warily, tense and ready to strike if need be. What would attack her in a place like this, she did not know. She looked down at the shimmering, iridescent surface below her. There was a girl with brown pigtails in a red dress and yellow boots on her hands and knees and there were some sort of….black creatures surrounding her. As if they were ganging up on her, about to pounce. The girl tilted her head. What was going on….and where was she? Why did she not feel safe here? _

"_So you're who's going to help me protect my brother….My name is Leda." The golden brunette whirled around to see the brunette in the stained glass image now standing tangibly in front of her. "Who are you?" The other girl felt the strange, echoing thump against her chest and her eyes snapped open in sudden, angry understanding. "You…You're the one whose heart I have inside me. Is that what that beating inside me is?" _

_Leda tilted her head curiously at the other girl, her eyes showing faint unmistakable traces of understanding. "You came to be, I believe…because I still have something I need to do. And darkness has eaten away at my body. Technically…I don't exist anymore. Except inside you. My wish…took on a shape of its own; that _shape _now being you. And my heart is now inside of you, making you _real _and able to carry out my eternal wish."_

_The girl clad in a white tank top with a blue heart on the front and a dual layered, black tutu-skirt, along with black leggings and black sneakers glared at the pigtailed girl. "What the heck are you babbling about? Why should I help you carry out your wish? I don't even know you!" Her hands balled into fists, her knuckles quickly turning white from the strain. _

"_I'm sorry…" Leda murmured. "I need you to protect him for I am no longer able to. You must protect Sora." Both brunettes closed their eyes at the name. It was…soothing somehow, even to the girl who didn't know him. "Who is that? And why must I protect him?" Leda paused…an eerie, silent wind blowing her hair into her face, making her look strangely alluring, like she actually belonged in this place of darkness. "He is someone very important to me. I may not be alive anymore…but he still is. And he needs protected."_

_Both pairs of eyes opened to reveal twin pools of seemingly unending blue, one set exactly mirroring the other. "But why?" The other girl asked. "How did I come to be from your wish if I don't even know who you are or who this…Sora person is?"_

_Leda smiled, traces of bitterness edging the corners of her sculpted lips. "Hopefully you'll soon understand. You're another version of me…but you are also your own person. Never forget that." Leda walked forward, her boots echoing quite loudly against the stained glass image of herself, making her opposite tense up. She walked behind the other girl and put her arms around the other's neck in a hug. Leda fingered the light blue, Heart of Guidance pendant around the other brunette's neck and smiled. "You really are my Other. That pendant is just like mine, except mine is yellow."_

_Leda stepped back, making the other girl turn around to face her once more. "Every time you look at that pendant…think of me. You'll protect Sora, but make no mistake…I won't let any harm befall you either." Leda slowly began to fade into the darkness surrounding both of them and the shorter-haired brunette closed her eyes, feeling a strange, sudden light engulf her in its warmth._

…_._

"Well, well, well…." A dark laugh made the petite girl finally open up her eyes, only for them to glare at the owner of the laugh with rapt attention. "So it seems, Leda's _Other_…is finally awake." Hearing the name_ Leda _made the brunette instantly wary, jumping to her feet in a quick, defensive stance. She looked all around her, not liking the darkness of the world surrounding them. Ominous gray and black clouds painting a dreary purple-black sky. There were no stars…only an odd heart-shaped moon, glowing a stark yellow…the only thing adding color to the forlorn world.

Blue eyes turned upward to meet one yellow one, the other encased underneath a black eye patch. "Hello there. It's nice to…make your acquaintance." The words were mockingly sarcastic, with a cruel undertone, making the girl's glare only deepen. She tilted her chin up in a show of defiance, making the man only chuckle again. "You can call me Xigbar. We'll see what the Superior wants to name you. Now come along."

After that talk with…_herself_…inside of her own…_mind_ (she was still trying to figure that whole thing out), the girl didn't feel like talking. But that didn't mean she wanted to follow this creep either. It wasn't like she knew her way around this place, though. So for now…she had no logical choice but to follow this man. She could always ditch him later. And give him a good ass-whooping if he gave her enough reason. He was already working down on her last nerve, but then again… after being told what she had…she had reason for her nerves to be frazzled.

"So…Leda's Nobody is a silent, obedient lamb, huh? That wasn't what I was expecting." Another careless laugh, making the girl grind her teeth together in annoyance. She didn't want to take the bait she knew he was flinging at her, but she wasn't an obedient, little lamb. She was _not_ anyone's pet! "Screw you!" She spat bitterly, crossing her arms to keep herself from punching the living daylights out of him. She had to find someplace to stay and he was obviously leading her somewhere….

A tiny tickle in the back of her mind told her that he wasn't leading her anyplace _good_ but she had nowhere else. And it's not like the feeling was telling her that she _had_ somewhere else to go, which would have been a lie anyway… "Oh, so she can talk back. You were beginning to worry me. Someone that's a quiet and good little girl wouldn't exactly be destined for a keyblade, now would they?" The girl tilted her head. "What are these…phrases you keep saying? _Nobody…? Keyblade?_ What do they mean?" Xigbar chuckled quietly. "You'll learn soon enough, lamb chop."

After that, it was quiet until they reached a large, colorless castle. The only color that she could take in was gray because that's the only color there _was_. In such a world she should have expected this, but that still didn't make it any less depressing. Not even a bright white? That at least would have made the structure stand out. In a good way, anyway.

"Come on." Xigbar had stopped a few feet in front of her, motioning with his hand for her to follow. But she didn't move. She really just wanted to piss him off, so she stayed put, her feet set apart in a stubborn demeanor. Xigbar grinned callously, not getting angry with the brat for trying to make him angry. She was failing miserably at doing so. She was just continuing to amuse him further. So after a couple of pointless, silent minutes, the girl started to move forward, following Xigbar once more.

The inside of the castle wasn't any better or brighter than the outside, really. It was a little more whimsical, structure-wise, though. Which made it a little less of an eyesore. But she recognized it somehow, which was weird…she had never been in here, had she?

_You haven't, but I have. _Oh great…Leda. The golden-haired girl rolled her eyes. Why hadn't she thought of that? The crazy person inside her head claiming to be her had been her but she herself hadn't. Yeah, made perfect fricking sense.

Xigbar walked into a wide doorway with a tall upward arch, the girl following unwillingly behind. "Here is our newest member. Number Fifteen…" The new voice that boomed around the white, seemingly endless walls made the brunette jump and back away in complete and utter wariness. The giant room held a number of very tall chairs, more like thrones really, and in each one sat a person in a black, body-length coat. All of them were staring at her, some with just plain curiosity and others with a sick kind of entranced hunger.

"Leda…" The blue-eyed girl blinked numerous times, her fear momentarily forgotten as she looked up for the source of the voice. It had come from a blond, spiky-haired boy who was staring at her, complete with wide shadowed blue eyes and lips parted in clear shock. "Sora." She had no ideas why her lips had uttered that name. She could _fee_l that he wasn't Sora, but…her brain couldn't stop thinking about it and so it had slipped out. At the same time, he felt and didn't feel like Sora, so…she was as confused as ever. But she wasn't willing to let it show. Confusion was a kind of fear and she quickly realized that being the timid bunny rabbit amongst the large and hungry pack of wolves…was going to ensure she was devoured.

She walked down the middle of the platform and held her chin high, a stubborn glare set in place, making the man whose voice had been the one to frighten her before smirk almost lovingly at her, in a sick, very twisted way. "You would be the Other of Leda, correct?" The girl shrugged. "I don't know. Shouldn't you know the answer to that question considering you seem to be obsessed with this girl?" The silver-haired man waved his arm and literally disappeared in a wave of darkness. That same wave of darkness then appeared only feet in front of her, the man then walking out of the tendrils of flaming darkness.

He stepped toward her, steady and confident, although even if he had been cautious in his approach, she would have still been as on edge as a rattlesnake being poked and prodded by a sharp stick. Her shoulders hunched defensively, but she made no move to step away. "Leda is gone. And now we have you. Numbers One through Thirteen, please welcome our newest comrade….Dlexa. I know we have not a fourteenth member but she is number fifteen for a reason. Please welcome her with…open arms."

The grin on his face was taunting and dark, making the newly dubbed Dlexa's blood run cold. She didn't want to admit she was afraid, so she was still telling herself that he was all smoke and mirrors. There was nothing really scary about a magician that couldn't actually do magic, right? She began to tremble under the onslaught of dangerously enticing looks she was still attracting, so when the man put his hand on her shoulder, she jumped and backed away, now holding a mysterious weapon that had somehow instantaneously come to her aid. Her eyes darted in a frenzied tilt-a-whirl around her, the key-shaped blade her only protection.

"Ah, so I was correct. It seems Kingdom Key has come to your aid. Very good…" The looks around her only became more intrigued, making Dlexa back even farther away from the middle of the room. She wanted to get out of here. But there were so many of them…there would be no point in running. "Your newest team mate has gifted us with the use of _another_ keyblade. So treat her as well as you would Thirteen. You are all dismissed. Including you…Dlexa. Numbers Eight and Thirteen, please show her to an unused set of quarters."

With a wave of his black-gloved hand all the others followed their orders and left, leaving the same dark flames as before in their wake. Except for two people…A redhead with extremely unruly spikes and the same spiky-haired blond from before. The one whom Dlexa couldn't help but think of as Sora. She began to walk out of the room now, her movements tense and stiff. She was sure the others were waiting somewhere close by, ready to get her by herself and do…whatever it was they each had in mind. Some of the people's eyes had lit up when they had seen her…what was it called? _Kingdom Key?_ Would that thing really protect her or was it actually a death sentence? Oh how she wish she knew…

"Hey, you might not want to wander around by yourself just yet. A lot of the others can be real jerks towards newbies." The redhead and blond had made dark flames of their own and were now only a few feet away from her, on the same level of ground. The redhead grinned and put a hand up by way of greeting. "The name's Axel. Got it memorized?" Dlexa tilted her head to the side with a frown, her glare still in place as he put his index finger to his temple alongside his words. With a quiet huff, Dlexa turned away from the two of them and stalked out of the room, without bothering to wait for them _or_ say a word.

…...

"Superior…I'd like to conduct some research, if you allow it, of course, on Number Fifteen." The scientist's ice blue eyes glittered at the thought of a new, completely unrecorded specimen. "A Nobody with a heart…how is that possible?" He murmured, his fingers curled at his chin in thought. "I knew that girl's heart was strong. It seems Leda cares for her _dear_ brother so much that her heart managed to escape the darkness and dive into the body of a shape she herself created." Xigbar laughed at his own words, Dlexa amusing him now more than even earlier. And she had put on quite a show then.

"I don't think Leda herself created Number Fifteen, Two. I believe that Leda's feelings overpowered even fate and bent fate's will, forcing it to create a new shape for her heart to reside in." The slate-haired man known as Zexion tilted his head slightly to the side in serious thought. It was interesting…very interesting. He hadn't seen Vexen's eyes shine like that in a long time. And he had to agree with the scientist's train of thought. They needed to conduct research. And soon.

"Superior…if I may," Zexion began, "I myself sensed something from her that you might be interested in hearing." Xemnas leaned back against the dull, pale wall and waved his hand in permission to continue. "I know that Nobodies are beings of darkness. Because we were _created_ by the darkness. But…this girl has a darkness in her so strong…it's as if she wasn't created by it but it's still the living, breathing form of her essence. Like she needs it in order to survive." Xemnas' orange eyes gleamed in satisfaction. "Very nicely spotted, number Six. I will allow you to conduct research on this new puppet of ours. Just make sure you don't let her pull her strings out of your grip."

"Maybe stress triggers the stronger bouts of darkness and decides how strongly it emanates from her. Is there any way at all for us to compare the level of her darkness now to when she's fighting to survive? Or something along those lines." Saix nodded, a menacing smile tugging at the corners of his lips. "I'll see to it that she is placed on the hardest of missions. She already seems torn between fight and flight so things should be interesting for the two of you."

Saix waved his arm and then disappeared in his portal of darkness, the other higher up members of the Organization quickly following suit. They all had their own long agendas of things to get done and things needed done relatively soon. Xemnas would want Dlexa collecting as many hearts as possible. The ultimate goal was still the same as always. _Kingdom Hearts._

Roxas was stunned, to be quite honest. Even after seeing someone he somehow recognized but knew he didn't actually know…this was the icing on the cake. Having heard all that, he was anxious to find Dlexa. He and Axel had tried to take her to one of the rooms in the castle but she had gone off too quickly and they hadn't been able to find her. Thankfully Axel had told him which room they had decided to put her in. So now it was time to get some answers.

He walked quickly and with purpose to the girl's room and stopped once in front of the door. He raised his hand to knock, hesitated for a few moments and then knocked loudly. There was no answer so he tried again. He grunted in displeasure. He wiggled the doorknob and discovered that it was open, oddly enough. Knowing he shouldn't, but not seeing any other choice Roxas opened the door the rest of the way and entered into the room.

It was as plain as any of the other member's rooms, the walls and floor barren. The room was empty of all life, except for the curled up figure on the bed. And even she didn't seem alive. She was breathing so gently that he couldn't even see her chest moving and her eyes were closed, her lashes not even fluttering against her pale cheeks.

He stood staring at her unmoving figure for a couple of minutes before she finally opened her eyes and stared at him with unwavering pools of deep blue. "Who are you?" Roxas blinked at the sudden question, her voice so quiet he wasn't even sure she had spoken. "Um…my name's Roxas. You're Dlexa, right? Why did I call you Leda before? How did I know that's who you were before?"

Dlexa didn't answer and Roxas shuffled from foot to foot nervously. She just continued to stare at him, her face void of emotion, her occasional blinking blue eyes making her look like a doll. "I heard them say you have a heart? Is that true?" Roxas knew he was utterly failing at making conversation with this girl but he wanted answers. Why did she seem so familiar? How was he going to get her to talk? He rubbed the back of his head nervously, startling only slightly when he felt a hand on his shoulder. "Roxas, leave her be for now."

Roxas looked back and forth between Dlexa and Axel, torn on what to do. He really wanted to know, but maybe patience was the answer? Then again, someone like Axel telling him to be patient…maybe that wasn't the best idea. But when had Axel ever steered him wrong? He sighed, his eyebrows furrowing in honest, utter confusion.

"She's just…getting used to it is all. Give her some time. How about for now we get some sea salt ice cream, huh?" Axel gave a slight grin and pulled Roxas gently out of the room behind him. Roxas managed to glance once more at Dlexa before Axel closed her door, and then she was all alone. She blinked, complete silence engulfing her, continuing to stare off into space.

When all the footsteps outside her door finally faded and retreated, she decided to go have another little chat with someone. She wouldn't answer Roxas' questions until she had more of her own answered.

"_You've noticed that the Organization seems oddly interested in you, right?" Dlexa opened her eyes only to be in the realm of darkness (as she called it) once more. Only, the stained glass surface she was standing on was a little bit different from before. Up in the right hand corner of Leda's head, there were two hearts. One had a boy with ungodly spiky brown hair and a huge, goofy and bright grin inside of it. The other had…Roxas. "What? Why wasn't that there before?" _

_Leda crossed her hands gently in front of her stomach, appearing at ease. "Things are finally being set in motion. You've met Roxas. The other boy is…Sora." Dlexa was only able to blink in slight surprise, although a part of her had seen that coming, it really had. "Well…they do look alike. But how are they connected to one another? How are they connected to you? How are they connected to me?" _

"_I explained some of it earlier. Sora is who I died to protect. But that doesn't mean I'll stop protecting him. He is my brother, my…_light._ And Roxas is his Nobody." Before Dlexa could even get a comment or question in edgewise, Leda continued, while beginning to pace around the outer exterior of the stained glass circle. "A Nobody is a creature who supposedly has no heart. They are created when darkness feeds on a human's body. That human is then reborn as a heartless being. It's said that _Kingdom Hearts_…that heart-shaped moon in the sky…is where all hearts go. A Nobody usually spends their life wandering the worlds for their lost heart."_

"_The Organization…takes pride in taking hearts from others, any that they can find, so that they may feed Kingdom Hearts and one day get their own hearts back. Roxas was born when Sora released his heart to free another heart that he hadn't realized had been inside him. The heart of someone dear to him. And darkness fed on his body. But he is still alive. That's why you were created. To protect him." _

_A fierce blue fire entered Leda's eyes as she stopped her pacing and stared Dlexa down. "You are my Nobody, yet you have a heart. Supposedly mine was so strong that it managed to stay alive until you were born, then it took shelter inside your body. You have my heart. And you _will_ protect Sora. And Roxas. They cannot survive without one another. The same goes for the two of us." Leda gestured to Dlexa and then back to herself. "We cannot survive without each other." _

_Dlexa felt herself suddenly growing very angry, a dark heavy feeling beginning to fester within every inch of her. "But I'm not you. Why the hell do I have to protect someone I've never met? I don't have your memories! I don't know who Sora is!" "But you _feel _him, don't you? You feel Sora…through me. You feel everything through me."_

"_But I'm not you!" All of this was only causing Dlexa's anger to grow, her fists curled tightly at her sides, her teeth harshly biting her lower lip, dark, pulsing static beginning to pulsate all around her. "You must calm down…you'll awaken the Darkside if you keep this up." Leda rushed to her Other's side, her arms going to Dlexa's shoulders and gently rubbing them. "I'm not telling you any of this to hurt you. I'm telling you because it's the truth and you need to know. You won't survive without it."_

_Slowly…reluctantly, Dlexa began to calm down. Her fists were still curled and shaking strenuously at her sides but darkness was longer pulsating around her and inside her. Leda stepped back to give the other girl some much needed space. It seemed her Other was a bit of a ticking time bomb…_

"_Even if you don't do it for me, you still must protect Sora. For the sake of everyone around him. The day you go to another world…you'll see stars in the night sky. The stars used to twinkle brightly but now they're dull and listless…_fading_. Each star you see is a different world out there. Maybe one like the current one you're on, maybe one completely different. But because of all the darkness in people's hearts…the worlds are slowly dying. The darkness is overshadowing the light. Sora is the key to that light. If you protect him, those worlds will someday be safe from harm again. And you'll get the chance to see every last one of them. ….Please."_

_When she had been alive…Leda hadn't begged for anything hardly ever. But she cared more about Sora than anything else. And even dead, she would see him protected. He was the only one who could protect the worlds. If not for her sake then Leda had to make sure Dlexa at least understood the importance of keeping her brother safe in order to save the worlds from the creepy, crawling tendrils of darkness._

_Dlexa was stubborn, much like herself…but she would have to break the girl, take away the wrong fitting pieces and put the right ones back in place in order to get her point across. It would be a slow going process but…Leda could feel that Dlexa would someday understand, even if not relatively soon. And someday was better than never._

_Besides…even if darkness was corrupting the worlds, it was still needed to balance out the light and create shadows that ran across the worlds in perfect harmony. And the darkness emanating from Dlexa…it was strong. If Leda could help her Other to control that power, there might be more hope for the worlds after all._

Weeee, this isn't actually that long but it felt like it took forever to right. :D Hopefully that means it turned out pretty good. I think it turned out quite well, still very raw at parts but with Leda and Dlexa's storyline that's fitting, I think. If anyone has any questions, or ideas please let me know.~ Critique is the best thing towards helping an artist improve!~ ^^ Once again dedicated to my best friend and my Xion twinny-chan.~ Hope they enjoy this. And I'd also like to know what you all think of Dlexa, not just Leda. And how I could improve with dialogue involving other characters, etc…

I know technically Xion wasn't in the Organization (at least not the ways Days portrayed it) in my story but I still made Dlexa Fifteen because I feel Xion will play a part in all this. Inside of Sora anyways. Again, ideas would be lovely.

Anyways…hope you enjoyed! ^^

~Cutevampirecollie


	3. Chapter 2- Overcast

Alright, here's chapter two. I hope you enjoy and critique is always adored. ^^ Kingdom Hearts belongs to Square Enix and Disney.~

…...

"Astounding….." The long-haired scientist moved his stethoscope around Dlexa's chest and back, his eyes glowing with a dark intent. Vexen didn't actually think he would hear a heartbeat, considering that Nobodies don't have hearts but Dlexa was just as scientifically enticing as Xemnas had promised she would be.

"Stop touching me. It feels uncomfortable." Dlexa could only mutter the words, seeing as she wasn't that outgoing of a girl and Vexen –though she wouldn't admit to it-really freaked her out. He was what one could consider a pedophile who had his sights set on the prettiest young girl or cutest, shyest young boy he could find. And she just happened to be the _kid _he was offering candy to, so to speak.

Vexen just kept muttering to himself, removing the cold steel from her chest only to place it onto her back seconds later and then writing some sort of notes into a medical journal. "Number Six, could you hand me the needle please?" The slate-haired man didn't say a word but did as he was asked, making Dlexa nervous. Was everyone in this place just a mindless puppet who listened to everyone whose number was above theirs?

Vexen flicked the sterile needle with his thumb and index finger to get all the excess air from the tube before quickly and efficiently wrapping a light blue band tightly around Dlexa's upper arm. Then he injected the needle into her but Dlexa didn't even allow herself to flinch. The dark, crimson red liquid quickly spilled from her am into the clear, plastic tube and all it really felt like was a bug bite. You almost didn't even feel it but you knew it was there so you knew what was happening. Vexen released her arm after taking the needle out, and taped a small pad of gauze onto her arm to stop any excess blood flow.

"You are free to go, Number Fifteen." He gave an impatient wave of his hand, not even paying the slightest bit of attention to her anymore. He handed the tube filled with blood to Zexion, his ice blue eyes glittering almost sickeningly once more. It made Dlexa's stomach turn in a nauseating way. "We might be able to tell how strong she is by testing her blood. It does seem darker than the average person's so that's probably the darkness showing itself even in her blood. Test it immediately while I review my notes, Six."

With a shake of her head Dlexa quickly turned and walked out of the medical wing. She stopped afterward and looked to her left and then right. She had no clue where to go or how to even get back to her room for that matter. She hated to admit it…but she was completely and utterly lost. "Unh…" she groaned softly. "Looks like you could use some help." She immediately tensed up at the sudden intrusion of space and took quite a few skittish steps back, even though it was only Roxas.

Roxas should have been the least of her worries, considering that the other members were all like vicious honeyjackets waiting for the prettiest, biggest flower to bloom, only then to suck out all the pollen from it leaving it dry and unwanted. But…after all the things that Leda had said….and how her brain still thought of him as Sora, for some reason…she was afraid of him. Afraid of getting near him, afraid of talking to him, afraid of getting close to him…After all, look at what had happened to Leda and Sora. They had been separated and Leda had followed him persistently after locating him, to try and protect him, only to have her body ravaged by darkness instead. So it was easy to see why Dlexa was choosing to act the part of the abused animal. If she got close to Roxas, only to have him taken away…

What made it harder was that she undoubtedly felt a connection between them but she was still trying to deny it even though she had felt the surge of electricity run through her the moment their twin blue eyes had met.

She didn't speak a word to him, only tilting her chin up in an act of ignorant defiance and with a wave of her arm, created a portal made up of dark, billowing flames. This would do a nice job of separating them from one another. For now, at least. Roxas seemed to be quite persistent so Dlexa knew it was only a matter of time before Roxas tried to crack her shell again. She moved toward the portal, quickly avoiding Roxas' arm reaching out for her, and let the creeping tendrils of darkness swallow her up.

The golden brunette's eyes fluttered a few times before fully opening once more, finding herself on a completely different world than before. One of the first things the Organization taught her was how to make a portal, and more importantly how to make a portal that would take you to your wanted destination. Today was her first day where she was actually being given a mission by herself so she didn't feel as bad for leaving Roxas alone in that lonely corridor. He probably had his own mission as well.

The world surrounding her now was dark and the main colors it sported that weren't dark colors like black, gray or purple were a slimy green and orange for numerous pumpkins that were scattered everywhere throughout the area. She looked down and found herself in a different outfit as well. She was now wearing a black, short, puffy-sleeved dress with black frills and an orange v-neck, sleeveless sweater, with black buttons on the front. There were quite a few black ribbons in various places on the outfit, and she was also wearing a black and orange striped scarf, black, ankle combat coots and black fingerless arm gloves that reached up to just above her elbows.

Huh. Well that was different, but she wasn't complaining. She actually thought it was pretty cute. She looked around her surroundings once more and this time saw a live, freakishly tall skeleton walking toward her. Floating behind him was an odd but strangely adorable ghost…._dog_. "Why, hello! And who might you be?" Dlexa tilted her head, for some reason not finding the man in front of her that scary at all. So she felt no need to run, though her muscles still reflexively tensed, her shoulders hunching.

"Um…my name's Dlexa. And you are?" The skeleton gave a grand, lipless smile. "Why I would be Jack Skellington, but you can just call me Jack. And this would be Zero." The ghost dog beside him with its floppy ears and cute, glowing pumpkin nose barked happily at the stranger in front of him. "So then, Jack….what is this place?" The skeleton looked shocked for only a split second before grinning again, somehow even wider than before. "This would be Halloween Town. I am surprised that you have never heard of it but not everyone can know of everywhere, correct?"

Dlexa, not understanding really any of what he was rambling about just nodded. Saix hadn't told her where she would be going for her mission. He had just given her the coordinates of the world's location. She had to admit that she had been curious about the name of the world of which she would be going to. So now she could get on with her mission. "Well, thank you, Jack but I must be going now. Bye Zero!"

Dlexa gave a very timid wave and the tiniest of smiles at the duo before turning and racing off in the other direction. Wow, that had been weird. A skeleton and a ghost dog? She hadn't seen many of the other worlds yet but she really hoped all of the people weren't as overly friendly as in this one. It still looked cool, at least.

Summoning her keyblade, Dlexa began executing her mission, which was to collect hearts. Though she already hated his guts, she had managed to sit through her lesson with Saix on _how to collect hearts and why you must collect them_ without killing the man so she knew what she was doing even if she was still just a novice. The heartless appeared and one by one she took them all out, swinging her keyblade like it was just an extension of her arm.

After what she thought was a sizable number of hearts offered to none other than Kingdom Hearts, she straightened out of her defensive, fighting stance and looked upward at the sky, breathing in the cool and crisp night air. She had taken slight notice in the other worlds but while she was actually paying attention…it was obvious. The stars did seem dull and almost lifeless. As if they were losing their source of light. Well if the worlds were being overcome by darkness it did make sense, but…seeing it for herself was something completely different.

And Sora was the one who would end up saving the worlds? Leda had said that…but one person alone couldn't save every single world from the destruction of darkness, could they?

Shaking her head, refusing to dwell on those thoughts, Dlexa walked off, still curious towards the town and ready to explore more of it. Walking off toward the Graveyard, her hair and scarf blowing in the wind behind her, she did not notice the two figures standing off to the side, darkness slightly shrouding them from view.

"Did you feel that, Mickey?" The silver-haired man looked in the direction of the black humanoid mouse, his eyes hidden behind a black blindfold. The mouse nodded, his mouth set in a grim line. "Yeah…the darkness emanating from that girl sure is strong." "It's almost…_too_ strong if you get my drift. Is it the right amount to balance out Sora's light? Diz said that both light _and _darkness are needed to recreate peace in the worlds. Obviously, Sora's the light. But her darkness might over power his light, only making things worse…"

Mickey nodded, his tail twitching in obvious anxiety. "She almost seems familiar, though…you know? Like she's a remnant of someone I knew back on Destiny Islands." Riku looked almost painfully pensive, his hand curled against his chin in thought. Mickey tilted his head to the side, imitating the same gesture as Riku. "She almost seems like Leda, doesn't she?" If Riku hadn't been wearing his blindfold the mouse would have seen his eyes widen. "Yeah…that's who I'm thinking of, too. But Leda followed Sora back to Destiny Islands after you and I closed the door. And it's not even her…just someone like her."

Mickey's big, round ears twitched several times, his lips pursed. "But you know what happened to Sora when he released his heart to save Kairi's. The same thing could have happened to Leda." Riku tried to think of something to say to that; he wasn't sure if he could picture that happening to Leda but at the same time, stranger things have happened in the worlds. Regardless, he still couldn't find the words to speak.

…

Once back in The World That Never Was Dlexa hurried to her room as quick as a fox. She really couldn't deal with having to try and ignore Roxas again today. But thankfully she didn't see him on her way to her room. Once in her room, Dlexa sat on her bed, hugging her knees to her chest. She may have gone on and successfully performed her duties for the mission but she didn't feel like recalling the events of said mission to Saix yet. She couldn't care less actually. Not to mention she was getting annoyed at a persistent tug she was feeling inside her head. Dlexa just sighed and closed her eyes, letting her head fall forward onto her knees.

"_What do you want?" Dlexa actually managed to keep her voice uncaring and monotone even though all she really felt like was growling at the girl opposite her. She was back in the Station of Awakening once more and this really wasn't the time for Leda to decide she wanted to chat. Dlexa just wasn't in the mood. After seeing with her own eyes that the worlds were dying, making her realize that Leda had been right and could still be right about Sora…she just didn't feel like being all touchy-feely with anyone, least of all, the original copy of herself. She was much like a clone, Dlexa decided. Leda was the original and because she wasn't that instantly made her feel worthless, which she already knew was a feeling she _hated.

"_It feels weird coming to you of all people for this, but…do you think Sora ever thinks of me?" Leda tilted her head curiously, longing for an answer. At first Dlexa was just going to make a smartass comment, her eyes narrowed and her mouth open in preparation for a bratty retort, but it never came. Instead her brain insisted on her asking a question of her own in turn. "Does Sora know? That the darkness got to you?" _

_Leda could only drop her gaze down to her bright yellow boots, her thick brown pigtails now covering her face. Finally, after an eternity of silence, Leda slowly shook her head. "No. I don't think he does." Leda's fingers went rigid before curling into her palms, creating two fists on either side of her. A part of Dlexa ached at having to see her other half looking like she had just been told she was hated by everyone, but the other part could only get angry. Angry at everything going on, angry at Leda. Just plain angry._

"_Why did you have to be so weak?" It was just a murmur but Leda heard it clear as day, the words echoing around inside her skull, repeating over and over and over… "If it weren't for you letting the darkness get to you, I wouldn't be here. I wouldn't be confused and I wouldn't feel like I'm just a copy of someone else…and not even a good copy. I feel so pathetic and worthless. I was created to do something you died before you could do. Because of that…." _

_Dlexa took a deep, hitching breath in, her breaths coming harsh and ragged, making her feel like she was a volcano about to burst after having come into contact with a tornado. "Because of that…was I even supposed to exist? Or am I just the keeper of your heart, my body nothing more than a puppet?" The words were full of venom and spite. Even after only existing for a short while, she already had so much anger and hurt built up inside her. Leda was worried…because Dlexa's anger combined with her own feelings of worthlessness didn't seem like it would cause a good outcome. Leda could already feel something brewing around them._

_She had to calm Dlexa down. "You have something to live for, you know? Roxas." That one word, that _name_ cut through Dlexa's barriers like a hatchet through bone, sawing down her defenses like quicksand. That name sent a wave of some unknown feeling through her, even though she had been told Nobodies technically couldn't feel anything. Dlexa still wasn't sure whether the feeling she got in her lower belly just from hearing the boy's name was a good or a bad thing. _

"_You're just saying that because he's still your brother….just in Heartless form." Dlexa's glare only deepened, her eyebrows furrowing as she continued to look at Leda with eyes set to kill. Leda shook her head, a half smile touching her lips. "You still don't get it, do you? Roxas is his own person. He's just _connected_ to Sora. He's the other half of Sora, but he's the opposite half. He's as different from Sora as you and I are from one another." _

_Leda paused, thinking over her words carefully before looking back up, her eyes meeting with Dlexa's, their faces reflected in the other's eyes. "It's because you're not bothering to understand the differences between us that the darkness in you is getting to be so strong. You need to gain control, Dlexa. You need to see yourself as your own person, someone who's just…connected to me. When you do that, you won't get so angry all the time and the darkness will start to back off."_

_Dlexa actually grinned at that, but it was completely mirthless and almost scary. The look in her eyes was saying that she had already given up, which made Leda's chest tighten with a dark rainbow of emotions. "Even if I do that…you'd still overshadow me everywhere I go. In everything I do…with every step and breath I take…you'll be there mocking me. Making me feel as if I'll never amount to anything compared to you. Which I won't…because you're the original. And the original's always best…"_

_Dlexa clutched her hands tightly to her chest, one over the other forming an X, almost like a shield of sorts to protect her from the outside worlds and the people in them. Except she would always be vulnerable…never able to fully protect herself. Because of what she was._

"_I'll just be your puppet!" The words were screamed, shrilly and painfully, sounding like a mix of nails against a chalkboard and teeth grinding against broken glass. Leda winced, but otherwise showed no physical reaction. She knew it was harsh but she had to say it. Even if it only fed the flames of darkness, she had to make sure Dlexa understood who really wanted to hurt her. "Would you rather be my puppet or the Organization's?" _

_Dlexa's eyes widened ever so slightly. She parted her lips to try and speak, anything, but nothing came out. And the truth was…she honestly didn't know the answer. _

…_._

"I think her darkness is even stronger than that emanating from the Heartless. Of course, I'll need to conduct more research, but ultimately her darkness is spiraling out of control. It's only in the larvae stage, if you will, but she's remarkably strong as it is."

Xemnas listened to the scientist's words with full attention, his lips quirking upward in a smirk. "Good, very good. Darkness is stronger, therefore it attracts more hearts. I expect you'll be nurturing Dlexa into the butterfly she must become for the sake of Kingdom Hearts, correct?" The cruel glint in Xemnas' eyes matched that of a sadist killer's after he's just killed off every last one of his victims. Vexen smiled cruelly. "But of course. Her darkness must be cared for until it's even stronger than it is currently. I shall nurture it quite well."

Xemnas nodded in smug satisfaction. "Remember, Four…it's all for the sake of Kingdom Hearts."

….

Roxas shook out his limbs while taking a deep breath in. He only let the air whoosh back out of his lungs when he knocked on Dlexa's door. He was going to get some answers this time, whether the girl liked it or not. There was no answer so he just wiggled the doorknob and entered the room when the door opened like he had last time.

Dlexa was on her bed, her knees to her chest, a faraway look in her eyes. This girl really perked his curiosity. Why did she seem so familiar? Why had he called her Leda when that's obviously not who she was? Why had she called him Sora? He had to know.

"So are you going to finally tell me about yourself or what?" There, he had just come right out and said it. Axel had told him to try being blunt and see if that would surprise her enough where she would blurt out what Roxas wanted to know. Then again, Axel was a bit of an idiot, but Roxas was desperate. Dlexa's eyes flickered to him, eyeing him carefully. "You really want to know?" Dlexa said it so emotionless that Roxas couldn't help but look back at her with wide eyes.

Dlexa took a deep breath. "We're Nobodies, right? Well, there have to be Somebodies in the worlds too and there are. We both have them. Yours is Sora and mine is Leda. Leda's body was destroyed by darkness as she was trying to protect Sora. _Her_ heart is inside _me_. I'm not sure if I'm my own person or not." Dlexa sighed, seeming to curl up even further as if trying to find an inner haven. "Sora's still out there and Leda…whose spirit is inside me by the way, is trying to convince me that I have to protect him because I'm still her but I'm apparently also myself. Or so she says…"

After that, Dlexa let her head fall back down against her knees, not caring if Roxas understood any of what she just said. She wouldn't repeat it and he was lucky she had even said any of it at all. Roxas felt his knees go weak at her words. What….? They were actually parts of other people? How did they all coexist? Did that make them different from the other Nobodies who had been one person with a heart and then that same person just _without _a heart? Did any of this even make sense? He didn't know.

His lips were parted in stunned realization, ocean blue eyes wider than before. At least there was one thing he did know from all this. He knew why there was a connection between the two of them. "So…does that make us brother and sister?" With her face still buried under her arms, Dlexa shrugged. "I wish I knew."

Roxas could see her point. He now understood why she always seemed angry and on edge. It was because she didn't know whether or not she was her own person or just another version of someone else. Somehow…hearing about this _Sora_, he understood. He, too now had to wonder what and who he really was. But that didn't make the connection he felt with her waver. He knew how he felt about that at least.

"Well, if that's the case, then I'd like to get to know you. I'm going to have to do some reevaluating on who I think I actually am, but you _feel_ like my sister. Even if I technically don't have a heart. So it doesn't matter." He reached out and gently laid his hand against her arm and she shot up like a deer coming into contact with the headlights of a car. She narrowed her eyes, her lips curling in a snarl, her body tense and shaking like a windblown leaf.

"It does too matter! You only say that because I'm Leda! I want to believe I'm someone else but I'm _not_ and neither are you! We're just useless, second-rate clones! We're not anything to one another. Only Leda and Sora are, don't you freaking get it?!" Roxas tried to reach out for her once more but she avoided his touch like the plague, flinching away like she'd just been slapped. "Don't touch me. Just leave. I should have never told you anything…you don't understand. No one does."

Roxas didn't want to leave but the way she was trembling was really beginning to scare him. He was almost afraid that if he stayed much longer there'd be an explosion and even he wouldn't be around afterward to pick up the pieces. He just backed away slowly, his hands up in a placating gesture and then he backed out of the room.

With his mind reeling, all this new information spinning throughout his head like a Tornado Step, he made his way to Axel's room where he knew Demyx would also be. Thank God. He needed his two friends to talk to. He knocked and entered without even waiting for permission to enter, and instantly began to pace up and down Axel's red carpet. Unlike most of the other members Axel had decided he wanted to spice up his room, make it look like at least some of the castle was alive.

"Whoa, Rox, what's up man? You don't look too good?" Axel tried to keep his comment light, but there was worry underlining his tone. "Yeah, you look like a ghost," Demyx added, his aquamarine eyes curiously watching Roxas' agitated movements. "Dlexa finally opened up. But it wasn't even close to what I was expecting. And then she practically exploded right in front of me."

Roxas ran a hand through his tousled, spiky blond locks in agitation, his pacing only increasing in rapidity. Axel put a hand on his shoulder, his brows furrowing in concern when Roxas tensed up at his touch much like Dlexa was doing with everyone that got near her. This wasn't like Roxas at all. Whatever Dlexa had told him had obviously rattled him pretty fiercely.

Axel sighed heavily, running a hand through his unrul y, stark red spikes. "Look, Roxas….maybe Dlexa just needs more time to calm down. Give her some more space. I don't know what she told you and because I don't know I can't tell you whether it's true or not, but both Dem and I can obviously see you're very upset. So just…let her blow off her steam. It'll just take time."

Roxas finally came to a halt, abruptly, and looked up at Demyx and Axel with confused ocean blue eyes. "The weird thing is…I don't think there's a lot of time left."

….

The air was fresh and warm, the sun letting its bright rays cascade down over the water and sand. It was a perfect day in Destiny Islands. At least that's what Sora thought. It couldn't get any nicer than this. Weather wise, things were perfect…but Sora couldn't keep his thoughts from troubling him yet again. "Leda…" he said quietly, looking at the waves lapping over his feet and picturing Leda's dark sapphire blue eyes with perfect clarity in his mind. He didn't know why but he had been thinking about her a lot lately.

She wasn't on the islands and he had no clue where else she could or would be, let alone why she had left and for how long she was planning to be gone. Why hadn't she told him she'd be leaving for a bit? And why had he thought nothing of her disappearance up until only a few days ago? Sora's mind was always full of questions but serious ones like these that also made his heart ache, pounded against his head painfully.

"No, I can't think like this. Leda wouldn't want me to worry. I'll just wait for her to come back. That's what she'd want me to do, anyway."

Sora released a sigh and let his back fall against the warm sand, the sun shining all over his body, making him feel warm on the outside but unable to reach the coldness now looming within the depths of his mind. He closed his eyes and looked around him instinctively even though he knew instantly where he was as soon as he had eyed the stained glass surface beneath him. It was the one representing him. With all of his friends by his side…

"Sora." The voice calling out to him made Sora jump in surprise. It was a voice that sounded familiar but one he ultimately didn't recognize. "Who's there?" Nothing was spoken in reply but a girl in all black faded into view in front of him. "Who are you?" The short-haired blackette with eerily familiar dark blue eyes didn't answer his question but instead stepped forward, closer to him. She really seemed familiar…but Sora couldn't put his finger on how or why she seemed familiar.

She almost looked a bit like Kairi but those were not Kairi's eyes. They were too dark. "Sora. There's something stirring in the air, something strong. You must beware." Sora tilted his head, lips pursed in confusion. "Huh? Beware what? I haven't sensed anything." The girl in the body-length black coat just stared at him with her piercing diamond eyes. "Beware of an even stronger darkness than before…."

Sora's eyes scrunched up, his confusion only having grown. "But the door to the darkness was closed…." The girl vanished before he could even finish stating his reason for confusion. Sora was now left all alone within his own mind, unable to help but feel like something was missing as he looked at his stained glass image. Where was Leda? She had vanished from the glass. And Sora had no idea why.

….

Author's Notes: Kay, so I'm finally finished with chapter 2. It was a bit of a longer one but it had a lot to cover. I hope I'm not being confusing with having too many different things happen in one chapter. Please let me know if you think I should try to tone it down. I just have a lot of people's thoughts to cover but I don't want to do first person POV for this story, except for that one part in the prologue that was in Dlexa's point of view. But…I digress.

It would be awesome to know if you think I'm keeping people in character (because I'm worried about Roxas. ;o;) and I'm also curious to know if you like Leda or Dlexa more. Or both so much you can't choose. XD Also, I would like to say that I love the Axel/Roxas/Demyx friendship trio and Roxas needs friends to lean on anyways so I included that. ^^ And it'll play a scene later. Hee.~!

I also knew I'd find a way to add Xion in this. Woooo! ~fistpump~ But I do think at some parts I'm not as clear as I want to be so if you have any questions, please ask away and I'll answer to the best of my ability. Once again dedicated to Aviditty and Sadlonelylittlegirl.~ For being awesome and inspiring. And putting up with me and my rambling. XD;

Until next time….

~CuteVampireCollie


	4. Chapter 3- Into the depths of Oblivion

Alright, so onto chapter three! I've been actually quite faithful and reliable about updating this but don't expect one like every two days or one per week and so on. The updates will be **sporadic** but hopefully I'll have this story finished soon. So then all of you can have your answers. XD And so I can also move onto my other stories because I have so freaking many….^^; -sigh-

You'll get some interesting twists in this chapter but still won't find out about the part Xion plays in all of this. Sorry to my lovely Xiontwin, Sadlonelylittlegirl who was very curious as to Xion's part in all this. You'll find out soon enough, hon. –hugs-

Finally, I do not own Kingdom Hearts. The series and its characters belong solely to Square Enix and Disney. But Dlexa and Leda and their backstories belong to me. Do not steal!

Enjoy!~

….

Vexen walked into the Superior's quarters, unsure of what the silver-haired man wanted from him. Surely he had done nothing wrong in his work. His experiments were perfect, though he wouldn't be willing to say that out loud to the Superior's face if Xemnas disagreed.

The stoic man was sitting in a white-gray velvet armchair with his arms crossed over his chest in thought. His orange eyes glittered faintly and Vexen knew that meant that Xemnas was thinking of one thing and one thing only. Dlexa. The newest member of their Organization was in the scientist's thoughts all the time as well, so it wasn't really surprising. She was an anomaly, a puzzle. And Vexen always prided himself on being able to decipher even the hardest of enigmas. But Dlexa…he hated to admit that he still didn't have too much knowledge of the girl and her mysterious heart. It seriously wounded the blond's pride but it was the truth.

"Superior," Vexen said, bowing slightly in respect. "Number Seven stated that you wished to see me." Xemnas nodded, appearing the picture of complete ease. He paused before standing up in an eerily graceful kind of way. "Number Six has brought something to my attention. After being put on the hardest missions, Dlexa's darkness is actually growing weaker. Kingdom Hearts cannot feed on the weak. I entrust you will be able to find the cause of this, Four?" Vexen looked slightly miffed and also a bit perturbed. "How did Six manage to come to that conclusion?" Vexen had been the one studying and writing down every single detail. How had he not spotted this?

Xemnas gave a dark grin, which was normal for him seeing as it was utterly impossible for him to actually give a true and genuine smile. "Six has been the one to handle certain results of your testing, has he not? You both have stated that her blood is darker, much more so than normal, most likely because of the darkness in her. As he's been reviewing each batch of tests he is noticing that in the most recent samples, Dlexa's blood is becoming lighter, the shade blood is supposed to be. Now…do you have any thoughts on what could be going wrong, Four?"

Xemnas paused near his window, staring out at none other than Kingdom Hearts, gloriously glowing in the dark, endless sky. That heart-shaped moon always seemed to catch and hold the Superior's attention for some unknown reason. That was also a mystery Vexen had been trying to figure out ever since he had become a Nobody but he was still drawing a blank on that one. Vexen decided to continue nonetheless, even though the other man's attention was no longer fully on him.

Vexen put a hand to his chin, pursing his lips. His smart and quick brain had already thought up a few possible conclusions but one of them, he seemed absolutely sure of. "Yes, actually. The power Dlexa emits is darkness….but how she fights with it is showing that she's using it elementally. But the darkness actually inside of her is a different story entirely. That darkness is seemingly her essence, her very life force. And after all, Leda was still being touched by the darkness when Dlexa came to be, therefore stating that the darkness itself is what created Number Fifteen. But as she uses some of her darkness physically and mentally and…_emotionally_, she is quite literally draining it from herself. If she unknowingly disposes of too much of her very soul it will kill her without a doubt."

Xemnas nodded thoughtfully, another smirk curling against his lips. "I think you may very well be right, Four. But we cannot afford to lose our newest and most valuable member. I am guessing that you have a solution in mind, correct?" The dangerous way Xemnas' eyes glowed following his statement actually made Vexen gulp. His eyes glinted like a demonic cat's eyes in the dark, as it's stalking its prey. Vexen nodded. "Yes, Superior. I do indeed know of a way to fix her."

Xemnas chuckled grimly. "Good. You may leave and fix the problem now, Four."

….

Dlexa looked around, not seeing anybody in the Grey Area and finding it odd. Normally everyone was here in the mornings, reporting to Saix for their missions. Saix was the only one she saw currently. "Number Fifteen." A chill racing through her, Dlexa turned around at the voice speaking to her. "Vexen," she growled. The scientist grabbed her arm and began dragging her along behind him at a more than steady pace. "Hey, where are you taking me? You're not doing more dumb tests on me, are you?" Dlexa gave a low growl of defiance, wiggling every which way to get away from the blond Nobody. "Stop your struggling, Fifteen. More tests _need_ to be conducted. You will be sent on your mission afterwards."

Dlexa, being the stubborn brat that she was, completely ignored Vexen and continued to struggle the whole way to the medical wing. Once there, Vexen hurriedly set her down on the examining table. He began hooking up numerous, various colored wires…but for once they weren't being connected to her. He was inserting them into a glass oval-shaped tube that held a small Heartless known as the Shadow. The very same Heartless that had fed on Leda's body…Dlexa scrunched her eyes shut, shaking her head venomously. She didn't want to think of _her_ today.

Dlexa opened her diamond blue eyes once more and tilted her head, her eyebrows furrowed in silent seething. After hooking up all the wires, Vexen nodded to Zexion, giving a silent demand and the slate-haired man pressed a button on a small machine that all the wires were coming from. Suddenly the glass case was filled with a bright light, complete with yellow, strikingly bright and painful flashes. The creature was being shocked with what seemed to be a very high voltage level. It gave high shrieks of pain, its unearthly yelling digging its way into Dlexa's skull with fierce, dark claws. The sound was beginning to echo inside of her eardrums, bouncing back and forth between her brain and her skull. She clutched her head in pain, her eyes squeezed shut….

It took a few more excruciating seconds for the creature to give a final, desperate cry and then a muffled explosion took place inside the case, the creature's body fading away in the form of small, dark waves. The actual horrid sound had stopped in reality but it was still burrowed in Dlexa's mind, the echoes still pulsating in her ears.

She blinked, looking up at Vexen in sheer disbelief. She couldn't find any words to say to the scene she had just witnessed. She couldn't even think up anything else other than, _why? Why? Why? _And to only add insult to injury, Vexen then took more wires connected to the same machine and hooked them up to her, making her feel countless, pinching needle pricks. The same wires he hooked up to her, she noticed were also hooked up to the glass in which the Heartless had been confined.

She didn't have time to think even the smallest of thoughts before she was hit with a wave of devastating, mind-blowing pain. She couldn't help but let out a hoarse screech as she began feeling more darkness enter inside of her. She did not know how she knew what she was feeling was darkness but the remnants of the Shadow's cry echoing inside her head were becoming stronger as if the small and dark creature was still somehow fighting for its life. She was absorbing the darkness it had left behind…

Dlexa wanted more than anything to rip the needles out of her body and swear like a sailor at the two horrible, horrible scientists that were doing this to her….she wanted to just explode into a million, tiny pieces, leaving the pain she was feeling right now far behind her. But she couldn't. She couldn't do anything but hold on and wait for the torture to end. And it did. But not soon enough.

It had felt like an eternity, and it left Dlexa feeling numb and like her body was no longer her own. She bent over, curling up into herself and panted from the exertion of having something so vile and tainted enter her. She already had enough darkness inside of her, according to Leda, so why did she need more?

Dlexa continued to gasp for breath, not even flinching when another needle pricked her in the arm. This feeling, thankfully, was one she recognized. She hated having her blood drawn but she would take that over darkness being pushed into her system any day. "Ah, much better. Your blood is darker again. I'll go tell the Superior that my experiment was a success." Vexen looked incredibly smug as he and Zexion headed out of the medical wing to talk to Xemnas. Dlexa….was left feeling she had been torn apart and put back together completely wrong, the stitches all jagged and uneven. Or run over by a monster truck. Either or both fit just nicely.

Even though Dlexa wanted nothing more than to get the hell out of the exam room and somewhere relatively safe…she could do nothing more than curl up on her side, biting her bottom lip to keep from crying out at the astounding pain of this new darkness playing tug-of-war with what felt like her very soul.

….

Axel strolled down the hallway, in no real hurry to start his mission. Saix stepped in front of him, halting the redhead's movement. "Yo, Saix! Now why isn't the lapdog with his master?" Axel raised his eyebrows challengingly, daring Saix to take the bait and retort with a witty comment of his own. Like Isa would have.

Saix's face didn't change expression, his gold eyes not even blinking, making him seem much like a doll or puppet. "I'm curious about something, Eight. Why is it you spend so much time with those idiotic friends of yours?" Without even giving Axel time to try and respond Saix continued. "I'd also like to hear your reasoning behind defending Dlexa over our Superior."

This time Saix did blink, his lips curving delicately into a feral smirk. Axel gaped at him. "How….do you know about that? I only ever said it when…" "When you were with Numbers Nine and Thirteen, yes." Axel's green eyes burned confusion. He could only stare at the blue-haired man, completely failing at thinking up a response.

Saix chuckled mirthlessly. "You wonder how I know about that. It's simple, really….I hear and see everything in this castle. So next time you'd best watch your tongue and keep yourself in line instead of so frivolously mocking the Superior." That being said, Saix turned to leave, his hair brushing against his shoulders with the movement.

Axel finally managed to kill the cat that had held his tongue in place and he took a step toward the other man, glaring when Saix tilted his head to look back at him once more. "I know that people change…but you've changed too much, I think. And not in a good way. What happened to the light-hearted, arrogant jerk known as Isa?" The blunette pursed his lips, actually contemplating Axel's question. He looked away and began walking once more. "You've changed too…._Lea._"

….

Xemnas opened his glowing, orange eyes, his mind still inside the realm of thought. Interesting….So Dlexa's darkness needed to be fed. That was something he hadn't seen coming. Normally, he was a very arrogant and prideful man, but he just found it humorous that this girl was even more interesting than he had thought she would be.

"Superior." Xemnas turned to see Saix bowing to him out of respect and tilted his head slightly. "Yes, Seven, what is it?" Saix stood up straight and followed the Superior's wandering gaze to the heart-shaped moon in the sky. "It's come to my attention that our…_puppet of darkness, _if you will, seems to be attracting a few followers of her own."

Xemnas continued to stare at Kingdom Hearts, the darkness in his own body practically down on its knees begging for the awing power that Kingdom Hearts had burning inside of it. He wanted it. He would get it. Even if the girl was beginning to take the other members out of his control…he would just have to change his plans a little bit. He didn't mind destroying anything and everything standing in his way. "Not to worry, Seven. She's only a puppet, nothing more. There isn't anything she can do to stop me. I'm untouchable."

Saix nodded in assent even though he didn't think the Superior was taking this as seriously as he should be. He just sensed something inside of the girl…not just her darkness, but something else. Something that could end up a true detriment to the Superior's plans. But Saix made no comment and instead just continued to stare up at Kingdom Hearts alongside his leader.

….

Dlexa rolled onto her back only to wince at the fluorescent lights above her. She rolled back onto her side and decided that she should get the heck out of the hospital wing before she went any more insane than she already was. She pushed against the metal table with what strength she had left and managed to heave herself back onto her feet.

As soon as she looked up, she saw Roxas lingering in the doorway. She glared, not in the mood to deal with him right now. He could tell her that he wouldn't leave her and that he wanted to get to know her as Dlexa and not Leda, but ultimately she couldn't believe it. She wouldn't allow herself to.

"Hey, Lex…how are you feeling? Axel told me you were here." Dlexa's glare only managed to become fiercer in intensity. "Oh, so you now feel close enough to me to use nicknames? That's great." Rolling her eyes, she went to make her way out the doorway, but Roxas grabbed her arm, his fingers curling gently around her wrist. "Seriously, Roxas, back _off!_ I'm not in the mood." She whirled around to glare at him once more and instead ended up with wide eyes as he pulled her into his arms.

"I don't know as much as you do. Heck, I only know what I know because of you. We may be connected to each other because of two other people, but I still care about you. I can't explain it…we haven't known each other that long but I already feel like we've been together all along. I don't care if you think you're another version of Leda. I want to get to know you as_ Dlexa_."

The golden-haired girl gasped quietly, tears beginning to form in her eyes. She closed them tightly, not allowing the stinging salt to stream down her face. He was lying, he had to be. She was still only Leda, whether she liked it or not. And he was only Sora, even if she couldn't think of him that way. She didn't like it, to be honest, she hated it, but that was the way things were. She had to somehow make him understand so he would finally leave her alone and then they could suffer about their cruel fates alone and in silence. That was how things were meant to be, right?

She wasn't sure….She didn't know if what she felt was right anymore, or if Leda had been right the whole time…maybe Roxas had the right way of looking at things, too. But the darkness swirling sickeningly inside of her, terrorizing her entire being with its swirling, dark tendrils was beginning to make her almost physically ill.

She tensed and harshly pushed Roxas away, jumping back defensively, her keyblade coming right to her aid. Except it wasn't Kingdom Key anymore. It was black and had intricate, almost gothic styled details adorning it, its edges sharp and protruding, making it look very dangerous. But Dlexa took no notice to the change in her keyblade's appearance…instead she was focused with rapt fury on the spiky-haired blond in front of her.

"You're a liar! You're lying to me! Why are you doing this to me?!" Every word was cutting, sharp and lethal like a thousand knives, all aimed at Roxas. Her grip on her keyblade tightened, like it was a lifeline. She would surely drown if she didn't hold onto something. Roxas was able to feel all of her spiraling emotions slam into him like the horns of a bull. He gasped, a hand going to his chest as if he had a heart, as if the emotions coming from her were beginning to resonate in him as well.

But his eyes never left her keyblade. Her emotions…he was somehow feeling them too. But he couldn't hear her thoughts, meaning that only one word was going through his mind. "Oblivion."

….

"_So…I see your keyblade has changed its appearance." Dlexa opened her eyes to see Leda in front of her, the stained glass surrounding her once more. "Why's that a big deal?" Dlexa narrowed her eyes at the other girl, a myriad array of feelings coursing through her. She wanted to be mad at Leda for ruining her chance at a normal relationship with Roxas. She wanted for Leda to have never existed so she wouldn't be someone else's double. But she also wanted Leda to help her understand all this, for the brunette to break through her defenses and show her they _were _two different people and that things could end up okay. She wanted to feel bad for Leda for being separated from the only person she truly cared about. She didn't know how to feel. She didn't even know how she knew which direction was up and which was down._

"_Because it just proves what I've been trying to tell you. Oblivion is a powerful and _dark _keyblade. You have to have some sort of darkness in your heart to wield it and the darkness inside of you…inside of us…is becoming stronger and stronger. It's been fed and will continue needing to be fed. You need to learn control so that the darkness, even after being given what it wants and needs, cannot take full control of you. If you can learn how to control your emotions, the darkness will always stay at bay. And you won't have to worry."_

_At being told not to worry, Dlexa's hands curled into fists, her anger returning tenfold and with a vengeance. "Stop acting like you know everything! Why should I bother to learn how to control myself if you'll be the one who ends up victorious in the end? If I learn how to control the darkness inside of me, you can find Sora and live happily fricking ever after. But what about me? What do I get if I learn control….? Nothing…" _

_Dlexa's anger instantaneously faded at the thought of how dark her future could really end up. Was she really willing to fight for the life of a future that wasn't hers? Yet…deep down she knew the answer was yes. She was willing to fight for Leda to have a good future. For Leda and Sora to reunite. She just didn't know why. _

"_I think you do know." Dlexa looked up at Leda, the other girl's dark sapphire blue eyes practically glowing as they stared one another down. "You're willing to fight for me and Sora even though everything about us makes you angry, because you still hope that you and Roxas can be together. You push him away because you don't believe it could happen but you need to have a little faith, Dlexa. If Sora and I can reunite…you and Roxas have a chance as well."_

…_._

Dlexa opened her eyes, saw the room spinning topsy-turvy around her, and quickly closed them again. She could make out voices from another room. She felt a needle in her arm and knew that she was back in the hospital wing. But she didn't remember leaving so maybe after Oblivion had appeared she had passed out, initiating her unwanted talk with Leda.

A sigh escaped her lips. She still wasn't sure whether or not to believe what Leda was telling her. If she should take the brunette's advice and just be positive. But either way…it was so hard. The darkness was pressing down on her mind once more, trying to insert all the negative energy it could. It felt like a heavy weight was being pressed down on her chest and nothing could lift it because only she knew it was there. How could you be positive in moments like that?

Instead of dwelling on her own negative thoughts, Dlexa strained to hear the conversation in the other room. "She seems to have had a breakdown. We apparently gave her too high of a dosage of the darkness. And her body couldn't handle it all so she reacted violently in a confrontation with Thirteen." That was Vexen. "We just need to be careful next time we give her a dosage. Then she will be fine." And that was Zexion.

The last voice she heard was Xemnas'. "Next time, be more careful. We can't afford to lose her. Her darkness is our key." After that, Dlexa heard murmurs that she was unable to make out, and then footsteps sounding as they walked further away from her. Then…silence.

Dlexa felt the globs of salt sting her eyes once more. She closed her eyes, her eyelashes already damp. Leda had been right in one sense. The Organization was just using her. As a pawn. And then there was Leda herself, making Dlexa feel as if she were looking in a mirror only to find out that her reflection was the real person between the two of them. The darkness spun uneasily around inside her, her heart fluttering longingly against her chest. She wanted to believe Leda. She wanted to believe that they both could somehow end up with good futures. But with all this crap concerning darkness and the darkness actually being inside of her…it was just so hard.

Finally letting go of her anger, Dlexa allowed a tear to fall.

….

Kay, finally done with chapter three! For once Dlexa has two emotions in this chapter. Not only anger, but sadness. She will start to get positive soon, I promise. She's finally letting go of most of her anger and letting the sadness take over. From there I promise she will become hesitant and timid to daring and protective. She just needs a little more time, as Axel would say. XD If you have any questions, let me know, kay? I'll be happy to answer; I just can't give spoilers. ;D Sorry.

I do want to try and make one thing as clear as I can. Basically, like Vexen said, Dlexa has two darkness'. In a sense. One as an elemental ability and the other is inside her, almost the epitome of her very soul. But using it as the element dampens the darkness in her soul and unknowingly feeling her soul being drained from her is the reason she gets really haywire sometimes. So they're two but connected to make one, if that makes sense. ^^; I hope it does.

Also, I wanted to add that little scene with Axel and Saix because I love the Lea and Isa friendship and Saix did want to call Axel out on the things he said. It also had to deal with the scene after ao I hope it didn't seem random.

If you find any mistakes, please let me know. Whether it be grammar, or spelling or even just a suggestion I'd like to know. ^^ Please and thank you!~

Once again this story is dedicated to my dearies. They know who they are. ~huggles them tight~ I hope you all enjoyed this chapter, and like I said, Dlexa will start to open up her eyes to the good in life soon. Just be patient with her.~ Like Leda is. Leda has the patience of a saint when it comes to Dlexa apparently. And I think it's cute. XD

I should be able to update soon. ^^ As always, critique is more than welcomed.

~Cutevampirecollie


	5. Chapter 4- You said 'together forever'

Yay, chapter 4…a night after I wrote, proofread and posted chapter 3! Don't expect this to happen all the time though. ^^; I just got lucky with my work schedule. Anyways….there are some more twists in this story but Dlexa will finally get hopeful towards the end instead of just being her annoying, negative little self. She's a lot like how I used to be actually. I'm better now, I still have my moments, but I guess that's ultimately what gave Dlexa her personality.

As usual, I do not own Kingdom Hearts. The rights belong to Square Enix and Dinsey. So…Squisney, hee, that's funny. XD And this is dedicated to Aviditty and Sadlittlelonleygirl for helping me and being there for me. You guys are awesome! ^^

Enjoy!~

….

Dlexa continued to toss and turn restlessly, her covers being haphazardly thrown all around her bed. Her eyes were clenched shut in obvious discomfort, beads of sweat rolling down her face.

_The spiky, brown-haired boy grinned brightly at his brunette sister. Leda held out the yellow, star-shaped fruit and looked up at Sora with big, ocean blue doe eyes. "Sora, come on! Why won't you eat the papou with me?" Leda was practically begging at this point. Granted, this was something she really wanted to do, but…she hadn't thought that she would have to beg to get to Sora to agree with her. A paopu fruit intertwined two people's fates eternally. She and Sora were sister and brother, but that didn't mean they would be together forever. _

_Leda didn't want them to be separated. At least not for too long of a time period. Hence why she was trying to convince Sora they should do it. "You're a goofball, sis! We'll be together forever even without a papou so why should we eat one together if our fates are already aligned with one another?" Sora began to laugh and Leda found herself smiling at Sora's response, even though it wasn't exactly what she had wanted to hear. _

Dlexa rolled over onto her other side, clenching the edge of her pillowcase in her tightly curled hand. And then she was transported to another world once more. Except this time, it wasn't the dream world…

_She opened her eyes to find herself standing across from Leda. Her eyebrows furrowed at the picture Leda made. She somehow looked tired, even though she technically wasn't real anymore so it wasn't really possible for her to be, and her body looked tense, her eyes filled with a haunting sense of rejection. Dlexa instantly knew that the other girl had seen her dream. Or maybe it was Leda who had shown _her _the memory. _

"_So…Sora said you'd be together forever, huh? Well guess what…he's not here now. He lied." Dlexa said the words without really thinking before she had spoken but she still felt them to be the truth. Leda sighed, shaking her head almost numbly. "No…he didn't lie. I don't even think my brother knows what a lie is. He's that honest. He just….didn't understand. He didn't see that ultimately fate could try to tear us apart later in our lives and that's why he gave such a naïve answer."_

_Dlexa snorted softly. "Okay, believe whatever you want." Honestly, though…Dlexa could see the truth shining in Leda's words. From what she had seen of Sora, in memories and dreams…he did seem like the foolishly naïve type, who just happened to have a strong sense of justice. And that was where Dlexa's thoughts began to turn bitter. What she and Leda had been thrown into wasn't what she would consider justice. _

_She was also curious to see how well Leda fought the darkness. So she was baiting the other girl. Leda made it sound like gaining and having control was so easy. Well then let's see how easily it came to her. Leda narrowed her shadow blue eyes at Dlexa testily. "It's the truth. That's how Sora is. And that's apparently how you are too! You seem to be as naïve as he is because what I'm telling you is only _just_ starting to sink in. It'd be so much easier for you if you'd just accept what I'm telling you instead of waiting for it to crawl painfully underneath your skin." _

_Dlexa rolled her eyes. Even though she was beginning to believe what Leda was telling her and _had_ been telling her the whole time…it didn't mean she wanted to admit to it yet. She hated being proven wrong. And Leda grated on her nerves so easily. She just wanted to taunt the pigtailed brunette a little more. _

"_So…he didn't share one with you. But he shared one with Kairi? That seems a bit odd, doesn't it?" Leda's head shot up at the mention of the redheaded girl her brother had a crush on. Her eyes widened ever so slightly before her head dejectedly fell back down, her hair now obscuring half her face. It seemed a bit cruel, what Dlexa was doing to her. Leda knew that's how it _seemed_ at least. But Leda also knew that Dlexa just wanted someone else to feel the pain she had so she was taking it out on the only person she could. _

_Dlexa was afraid she and Roxas would get separated therefore she was pushing the blond away to deflect the hurt. A part of Leda wished she had been able to do that with Sora. But it wasn't in her nature. Dlexa could be considered cruel and Leda could be considered foolish, but that's just how they were. _

_Leda nodded, smiling bitterly in response to Dlexa's question. "Yeah…." Dlexa blinked and tilted her head at the quiet and almost timid response. She had only been meaning to show Leda a little of what her own pain felt like, but she had expected the brunette to lash out or react stubbornly. Maybe Leda had more issues with the darkness inside of them than she had originally been letting on…._

_If they each were the own person…but they were still a part of one another…maybe their purpose in this life was to help each other defeat their darkness. Dlexa's fists clenched at her sides, her knuckles slowly fading to white. _Maybe I don't have to be alone. Maybe…I don't have to swim through this sea of darkness all by myself. Maybe…I've been stupid and cruel this whole time and I need to just grow up, _she thought to herself._

_And as Dlexa allowed her fingers to slowly unclench, she looked up. Hers and Leda's eyes met and no more words needed to be spoken._

….

Dlexa walked out of the medical wing, ready and set to go on her mission. Thankfully the _idiot _scientists had given her the correct dosage of darkness this time and so she wasn't feeling like she had the heebie jeebies like she had before. It was still painful, but not anything she couldn't handle.

Surprisingly Roxas also wasn't trying to follow her around today like a curious puppy. Maybe because he had already gotten the gist of what he had wanted to know. With a wave of her arm, Dlexa opened a portal and entered through it, unable to keep from shuddering at the tendrils of darkness that were touching her. With one final shudder, she ended up at her destination. Hollow Bastion.

Her mission was to destroy Heartless, big surprise there. That had been the only thing she'd been doing on her missions since she joined the Organization. Or rather, _was_ _forced _to join the Organization. It was undoubtedly because of all the hearts she was collecting with her keyblade. So she began to wander around, only stopping in her curious sight-seeing whenever a Heartless got in her way.

_This is where Roxas was made._ Dlexa stopped short at hearing those words within her mind. "Huh?" She stopped, half tempted to turn around even though the voice was inside her own head. _This is where the Organization told Sora that he had Kairi's heart inside of him. And therefore he released his heart to free Kairi's, becoming a Heartless in the process. I was here when it happened._

Dlexa tilted her head to the side, breathing quietly through her nose, no other sound around her being made. _I was standing in the background, watching…unable to do anything. I wanted more than anything to save him…but Kairi was the one who did that. I wish…it could have been me. That had saved him. That was the whole point of my existence anyway…to protect him!_

Dlexa felt a surge of anger rush into her but this time it did not belong to her. It belonged to Leda. The waves of anger only further caused the darkness inside of Dlexa to toss and turn with a restless hunger. Leda had less control than she had led Dlexa to believing. Great…so _two_ people with the powers of darkness had to learn how to control that darkness. Just great….

….

"Sora." The boy leaned up hurriedly, his head darting every which way at hearing his name being called. "There it is…that voice again!" "Sora, you have to go to Hollow Bastion." "Huh?" Sora's head tilted to the side at the randomness of the request. He hadn't heard much from the voice since it had told him to beware of a new darkness. Every now and again he would hear little murmurs in the girl's voice but he wasn't sure they were ultimately directed at him. How he knew that…he had no idea.

"Why Hollow Bastion? What's so special about that world at this very moment?" He must be insane…he was talking to a voice in his own head. But…it felt like a completely different entity that just so happened to be taking shelter in his mind. So it wasn't like he was actually talking to himself, right?

"There's someone special to you there." Sora's blue eyes widened, one breath leaving his chest with soft _whoosh. _"Riku! Or the King?" "I take shelter in your heart, Sora. I know the people that are most important to you. But you'll need to go to Hollow Bastion if you want to figure out who's there."

Even though the comment left Sora feeling quite perplexed, he bolted to his feet regardless and went to go find Donald and Goofy. Thankfully, they were already by the Gummi Ship, making sure that everything was in order. The poor vehicle hadn't been looked at by Chip or Dale in over a few months so caution was the best idea.

"Guys, I think I have a lead on where King Mickey and Riku might be!" At that, the two figures turned around with wide eyes and open mouths. "Gawrsh, are you sure, Sora?" "You're not making this up just to play the hero again, are ya'?" Donald tapped his foot, his arms crossed as he eyes the brunette carefully. Sora became flabbergasted at the duck's scrutiny. "No, why would I joke about that?! Come on, we have to go to Hollow Bastion!"

The humanoid dog and duck looked at each other skeptically before following Sora into the machine. Even though the boy was very naïve, he still had an unwavering sense of where to go when the time was right. Besides, even if it wasn't the King or Riku, it was still obviously something important.

Thankfully both Donald and Goofy had become experts at navigating and the journey wasn't too terribly draining or difficult. Sora didn't even wait for the ship to come to a complete stop before he jumped out, realizing they had landed in the Entrance Hall.

Sora only took a few moments to look around his surroundings before summoning his keyblade and dashing off. He managed to make it a couple dozen feet farther before bumping into an unknown figure. He blinked and shook his head. "Sorry about that, I just…" His eyes widened at the person he saw standing in front of him. She had cropped, barely shoulder-length, very golden brown hair that was tied back in a half ponytail. And her magnificently dark blue eyes….Sora knew those eyes. He _knew_ them.

"Leda?" The girl suddenly pushed past him in a sprint, leaving him to reach out behind him only to catch the nothingness of just air.

….

_Sora! Dlexa, stop! It's him, it's my brother! _But Dlexa kept running. Maybe it was selfish of her to deny Leda the only reunion with her brother she might ever get to have but seeing Sora in the flesh had finally opened her eyes. Sora and Leda had been separated…Leda had been right all along. She cared for Roxas. Whether or not because of Leda and Sora themselves almost didn't even matter anymore. She just didn't want to be separated from…her _brother._

Making a portal she rushed through it, no hint of even the slightest hesitation, and ended up back in The Castle That Never Was, right in front of Roxas' room to be exact. Panting from the exertion of her hasty getaway, she opened the door, hoping with all of her might that he was actually in his room. He, Demyx and Axel all looked up at her unannounced entrance, their stares quickly turning curious.

"Hey, Lex, you could knock you know? Don't need to bust down poor Rox's door…" Axel said, grinning. Roxas stood up, going to Dlexa's side with confused eyes. The girl had never initiated contact between the two of them. This was…surprising, to say the least. "I saw Sora today. In Hollow Bastion. It made me feel the need to ask this….You're not going to leave me, right? We're not going to get separated?"

Roxas blinked, his dark crystal blue eyes going wide. Not only was he shocked to hear that she had seen the person who was supposedly the other half of him but now a question like this…? Axel and Demyx had both stopped in what they were doing, staring at the now tormented girl quietly. This was quite a change in her character. And they hadn't even gotten to interact with her as much as Roxas had, which still wasn't much, but…

Roxas didn't know where this had come from, but he somehow felt he knew the reason why Dlexa was asking him this. He slowly shook his head. "No. No, I won't leave you. Why would you think that I would?" He gently put his hands on her shoulders and though she flinched, this time she didn't pull away from his touch. "Sora and Leda got separated and now…there's no way for them to see each other again. And I don't want that happening to us."

She sighed and ran a hand through her slightly tangled, short golden locks. "I'm sorry I've been a bit of a pain since we've met but…I just had to know. What with Leda being separated from the only person she's ever cared about…I don't really want to get myself close to someone just to be separated from them too."

Nervous, jittery and unable to deal with the physical contact any longer, Dlexa broke away from Roxas' grasp and exited his room, feeling relieved. Like her heart had been trapped inside a cage, bleeding and broken…and now it was free and on its way to mending. She had been wrong about a lot of things. Including how close she already felt to Roxas. She didn't feel she could live without him now. So…for once in all of her measly short existence, she felt happy. It wasn't a _giddy_ kind of happy but it was a start.

….

"Diz…will things really work out?" The blonde-haired girl turned toward the man standing next to her with worried, cerulean blue eyes. "Namine…Xion was put back inside Sora, was she not?" Namine nodded solemnly. She had hated destroying an existence like that and even if she felt that it wasn't true…Xion hadn't been meant to exist, therefore she had needed to be put back inside of Sora. At least she was peacefully slumbering but Namine only wished she could have done more.

"Things turned out okay for both the girl and Sora." Namine disagreed but she bit her bottom lip to keep herself quiet. "And the Organization used you to damage the links between Sora and his sister. You never rearranged the links back to their former places yet the boy remembered his sister all on his own. That shows that the Organization's grip isn't as strong as they would like to believe it is."

"But what about Leda's Nobody? Her darkness is close to taking over completely. What will happen if it manages to succeed?" Diz tilted his bandaged head thoughtfully, his one visible eye glinting curiously. "Leda's a strong girl. I believe she will be able to get through to her Other. For now, all we can do is wait. It's best not to dwell on unhappy thoughts, Namine."

And with that being said, the man walked away, leaving Namine with only her thoughts as company. She wanted to remain positive, but…they had so many odds stacked against them. All the girl in the simple white dress could do was clasp her hands together in front of her chest and pray that things would turn out alright.

….

Muuuuuch shorter chapter than last time. Hopefully the ones after this won't be as short but until we get to the climax they're probably not going to be as long as they have been. I'll try but I don't want to add too much detail to scenes that aren't important and I don't want to drag it out and possibly make it boring, so I hope you still enjoy.

Also, forgive Dlexa for being a little cruel in this chapter and thinking more about herself than Leda. But they have come to a bit of an understanding so that's good, right? Dlexa's skull isn't so thick anymore. ;D She was just worried about her and Roxas, wanting to hope they could stay together but afraid to do anything more than just hope for fear of ending up like Leda and Sora. She also wanted someone to feel her pain so that's why she was taunting Leda. It doesn't make it right, but she's my baby so it's alright. ~huggles Dlexa and Leda close~ Leda's my darling too, of course but I have a softer spot for Dlexa. Maybe it's because I like stubborn troublemakers, I don't know. XD Lol.

Also…here's where you find out for a fact (though it's hidden between the lines) that Xion _was_ a member of the Organization at one point. She was number fourteen, which is why Dlexa is fifteen…but like in the game, not many remember Xion. Sad, but I had to do so for the sake of Dlexa and Leda's story. ;n; Love you Xion-chan! *sobs and flees* And basically after she left, Roxas didn't remember but he also didn't leave the Organization. If that wasn't already obvious.

Like I said…I hope I'm not going haywire with all these scenes I have in each chapter but they're important to the story and they'll hopefully tie together well at the end. Even at the end not everything will make sense but that happens in everyday life, too, now doesn't it? Anyways, critique please, especially on how well you think I'm doing with tying the scenes together.

'Til next time…

~Cutevampirecollie


	6. Chapter 5- Nothing but helpless

Kay, so chapter 5….well technically chapter 6 if you're counting the prologue but I don't count that as 1 for some reason. If that makes sense. XD Lol. Anyways…it should be obvious by now who this story is dedicated to. Dlexa would like to thank Sadlonelylittlegirl for allowing her to become friends with her lovely character, Kumiko. I think they make a great pair, as do we, Xiontwinny. ~heart~

Thanks to Aviditty as well. ~hugs~

As always, I do not own Kingdom Hearts, blah, blah…you get the rest. Enjoy!~

….

Roxas walked down the quiet, empty corridor toward Dlexa's room. For once Saix had actually paired them together for a mission. He would finally get to take his sister to Twilight Town, which would be a good thing. Twilight Town was naturally soothing and calm, not too busy and not at all loud. Dlexa could use some relaxation. That girl never gave herself a break…She was always at war with herself and _in_ her own mind to make matters worse. Maybe Roxas could even coax her into going to the clock tower for some ice cream. She might enjoy that.

Like usual, once he got to her door, he knocked twice and then just opened the door. Dlexa never replied to his knocks anyway. He blinked once in the room. She was sitting on her bed, unmoving, her eyes blinking only every now and again. She looked like a doll…a little too much for Roxas' comfort.

He walked over to her and knelt down beside her, trying to get her to look at him. "Dlexa?" She didn't answer. Maybe she was talking to Leda. Roxas didn't know. He also didn't know why her mind was linked with her Other's and his mind wasn't linked with Sora's but that was a question for another time. "Lex? Come on, why aren't you responding?"

_Dlexa could only vagely hear Roxas' voice. Like she was covering her ears, therefore causing his voice to be muffled. There was a big, black creature looming in front of them, its shadowy claws reaching for both her and Leda. Its' yellow eyes gleamed dangerously, warningly. Dlexa brought forth Oblivion and began to swipe at the creature, only to jump back in a dodge to avoid a sharp swipe. "What is that thing?" _

_Leda dodged a swipe from the creature's other arm, her delicate brown eyebrows furrowed. "It's known as the Darkside. I mentioned it in our first meeting. The darkness inside of us has started to try and take full control. It took the shape of this creature to test us. If we can beat it, we can finally gain full control. But neither of us have any form of light as a power…our powers combined with the darkness in our heart…the darkness that's in front of us right now…are canceling one another out. Meaning…" _

_Dlexa's blue eyes widened in realization. "We can't beat it." They both looked away from each other and back at the Darkside only to be pushed back violently by black, muscled arms. Both girls fell to the ground with grunts of pain. Dlexa managed to push herself to her hands and knees and looked over at where Leda lay. The brunette's muscles were twitching as she tried futilely to push herself back up, to at least get her head up, but she couldn't even do that. _

_Dlexa closed her eyes. _And when she opened them back up, she was looking at Roxas, whose face was only inches from hers. "Dlexa!" She blinked, cringing slightly at the volume of his voice. "What? You know I'm right here, right?" She couldn't help the sarcastic comment; it was just her way of responding. Roxas shook his head, a small grin coming to his face. "Has anyone ever told you that you're insufferable?" Thankfully Dlexa was now able to understand when he was making a joke because she rolled her eyes at his comment.

After the humor of the moment faded, Roxas' grin quickly turned into a frown. "What was that all about anyway? I was practically screaming your name and you wouldn't answer. You were staring off into space like you were in some sort of coma. It scared me, to be honest." The small glint of humor quickly faded from Dlexa's eyes as well. She sighed, letting her head fall forward. "It's…nothing." She lifted her head back up after a few seconds passed and tried her best to smile.

"So what is it you were trying to tell me?" Roxas tilted his head, curious at her evasion to his question. She was beginning to open up, really only to him but it was still a slow going process. He knew she just might not trust him enough to tell him about whatever it was that was bothering her. He shrugged his shoulders, deciding to act nonchalant about the whole situation. "Saix paired us up on a mission. In Twilight Town. So we better get going, otherwise he'll get mad."

Dlexa scoffed. "Yeah, like I care about making that buttface mad." Stretching, Dlexa stood up and followed Roxas into the portal he had just made. Dlexa had only heard about Twilight Town. Mainly from Axel, who had been talking nonstop to Roxas the other day. Now she understood where its name had come from.

The sun was gentle, lazing about in the yellow and pinkish sky. The clouds were thick but slowly rolling along, creating a perfect harmony alongside the fading sun. "So what's our mission then?" Dlexa summoned Oblivion even though no Heartless had shown themselves and looked every which way, tensing in case they were jumped. Roxas shook his head. "He just said to defeat some giant Heartless. No specifics."

Dlexa's summoning of Oblivion had been perfect timing because only a few seconds after Roxas had spoken, a wave of darkness began to spill out onto the ground, opening quickly and widening to allow a giant creature to rise from its depths. Dlexa's eyes widened in horror, her lips parting in complete surprise. It was the Darkside. But what was it doing _here?_

Dlexa began to shake, slightly at first and then so strongly that Oblivion fell from her hands and clattered onto the ground, vanishing in a flash of black. She could only stand and stare at the creature, her mind having suddenly gone blank. The creature raised its arms and slashed, its claws slamming into the golden-brunette's body, knocking her backward so that her body met with hard, fierce stone. She just lay there, unable to do anything more. Unable to get back up and try to fight it. Just like Leda. Why was it _here_ and why was it in her mind, too?

_The darkness that's tainted our heart has only taken the shape of this creature. Maybe it's just coincidental that you ended up finding a real one here…._

Even as Leda was saying the words, Dlexa disagreed. She had quickly realized that fate worked in strange, sometimes very cruel ways and this was no coincidence. It had some symbolism behind it. Maybe it was fate's way of telling her that she and Leda would never defeat their darkness? A sigh left Dlexa's lips and she was finally able to push herself up as Roxas destroyed the creature with only a single slash of his keyblade. He stood panting for a couple of seconds, giving Dlexa enough time to slowly push herself back to her feet.

She was suddenly shaky, almost nauseous. And though she hated to admit it to even just herself…she was frightened. She was afraid of darkness…the very thing that was inside of her. She didn't want it, didn't like it…and yet it was there deep within her. And knowing that made her feel even sicker. Roxas ran to her side after catching his breath and put his hand on her shoulder. "Hey, are you alright? What happened back there?"

The strange thing was…Dlexa _wanted_ to answer him. She just didn't know how to even begin explaining it. Roxas saw the confusion in her eyes and sighed. "Alright…I have an idea." He took her hand and began leading her towards the clock tower. She followed him and once on top of the tower, Roxas gently forced her to sit down on the ledge. "Give me just a sec." His voice was quiet, or maybe the sound of the wind was a little strong. Maybe both. He walked away from her, leaving her to her thoughts. Only a couple minutes later, he returned and sat down beside her.

He held out an ice cream bar to her and waited until her fingers slowly curled around the stick before letting go and tending to his own ice cream. With an almost inaudible sigh, Dlexa took a tentative lick and her face scrunched up almost instantly. "It's….sweet _and_ salty." Roxas chuckled softly. "Yeah…that's what a lot of people say when they first try it. Give it a little longer…you'll like it."

Only the wind was blowing, the sun continuing to nestle itself into a slumber of its own, the yellow becoming dark and orange, night drawing closer still. For a few minutes, Dlexa allowed a comfortable silence to settle between them. But then she started to fidget restlessly, changing her position every few moments, turning the comforting silence into an awkward silence. Finally, Dlexa just decided to speak and pray that whatever came out of her mouth made at least _some_ sense.

"I lost to that thing. I let it beat me up. I let it do the same thing inside my own head. Leda and I have been fighting it mentally ever since this morning. She says our darkness has taken shape into this creature and we have to beat it to gain control…except we can't. It kicked our butts. I just…froze when I saw it here in real life. It felt like I was back in my mind again but I wasn't…."

Roxas just looked off into the distance, not forcing her to finish, just listening. That didn't mean he wasn't shocked because he was. He knew everyone had their inner demons _mentally,_ but physically….no one had ever told him that. Dlexa was grateful for his continued silence. It allowed her more time to think of what to say. What she thought of next was incredibly random to their current subject but she felt the urge to say it.

"I saw Sora the other day. He felt…different from you. He feels familiar but not like you." Dlexa began to gently swing her lings against the edge of the tower, sighing in distress. "I think my darkness is starting to drive me insane. You think I'm crazy too, don't you?" Roxas pursed his lips and tilted his head. After thinking about it for a minute, he shook his head. "No…you're not crazy. You've just got a lot on your mind. You need to let it all go for awhile. Just…sit here and enjoy the sunset. Keep eating your ice cream and don't let those thoughts bother you. Just for a little bit."

Dlexa took a small bit of her ice cream and tried to let it all go. But the thoughts were swirling around in her mind as uneasily as the actual darkness inside of her.

_This time when she opened her eyes in the Station of Awakening, the creature was no longer there. "It won't be gone for long. And when it comes back we'll be just as screwed as before. Roxas was able to defeat the one in Twilight Town because Sora is his light. Sora's light shines in him and it is able to keep the darkness at bay and also destroy it. Our heart's been tainted by darkness…we both have darkness so not only is it useless because it only makes the Darkside stronger…we also cancel one another's strength out." _

_Dlexa tilted her head, not quite understanding all of what Leda was saying. Leda pursed her lips. "Roxas is the dark half and Sora is the light. They're a part of one another and they balance each other out. You _can _defeat darkness with more darkness but only if you have light alongside it. Neither of us have light."_

"_Then how can we beat it?" Even before asking the question, Dlexa knew the answer. They couldn't. Not without light. Leda just shook her head, wanting to be able to give a good answer but unable to. "I don't know."_

….

"Superior." Saix gave a slight bow as Xemnas turned toward him. "Yes, Seven? What interesting news have you come to tell me?" "The girl's keyblade….it's transformed into Oblivion." The silver-haired man's orange eyes began to glitter darkly. "Very odd…even _I_ did not expect that. Her darkness is becoming even stronger than I anticipated. Good…_Very_ good. The stronger her darkness…the weaker the light will become. If she can become even stronger, she'll blot out all the light in existence."

"Which means more hearts to collect, am I right?" Saix tilted his head slightly, not at all surprised at the amount of interest Xemnas was taking in this girl. "Yes. Darkness attracts hearts like nothing else in all these worlds. Light is weak, therefore hearts will eventually stray away from it. Because Fifteen has none…no hearts will stray."

A merciless smile graced the Superior's lips as his eyes gazed toward Kingdom Hearts once more.

….

"That girl…why did she feel like my sister? And how did you know where she would be?" The black-haired girl just blinked at Sora, giving a small, mirthless smile. "I am a part of you, Sora. But I was once a member of the Organization. I was number Fourteen. Let's just say…a lot of things happened and now I'm here inside of your heart. But I still know what the Organization's been up to. You still haven't figured out that Leda isn't coming back, have you?"

Sora blinked, his eyes narrowing in angry confusion. "What do you mean Leda's not coming back? Of course she is. She promised she'd always be there for me." "And you promised her the same thing. But you were torn apart. By the Organization. To protect you, Leda went with their leader, Xemnas and he studied her for a short time to see if he could figure out why the keyblade never chose someone like her. The Heartless managed to get to her and her body was ravaged by their darkness. When your sister's heart had no body to nest in, it went into Leda's Other. As soon as Leda's heart left her body…_Dlexa_ came into existence. Now only Leda's spirit remains…_inside_ of Dlexa. And they share her heart."

"What? No…Leda can't be…gone….She can't be…She can't be!" Sora's blue eyes became guarded as he backed away from the strange girl dressed all in black. "No, you're lying!" The blackette shook her head. "I wish I was, Sora. But physically…Leda is gone. Her spirit…is still alive. And in danger. The heart she and Dlexa now share, what used to be _just_ Leda's heart, was tainted after her body was destroyed. The darkness managed to leave its mark on her heart. Meaning the Organization is now using that to their own advantage. They want all the hearts in the worlds…for the sole purpose of Kingdom Hearts. _Supposedly._ They're going to use her darkness to blot out all the light."

She smiled bitterly. She had once been naïve enough to think that Xemnas actually cared about getting their hearts back…but all he cared about was power. And to him…darkness was stronger. "Your light is strong enough to stop the Organization from succeeding in their plans, Sora."

A part of Sora wanted to believe that she was making this all up…but the other part knew she was telling the horrible, unthinkable truth. He shook his head dejectedly. "But _how_ am I supposed to help?"

The girl with the raven-colored locks just gave a small, mysterious smile. "You'll find out soon enough…I promise."

….

And there you have it! See, Dlexa's actually being nicer to Leda now. I told you she wouldn't be a negative hermit crab forever! She's still working on the negativity but she's got darkness that's trying to take over her completely. How would you feel? I'd probably be worse than she is, actually. XD; Anyways…I hope you enjoyed this chapter. It's a little longer than I originally planned, though still shorter than the first few chapters, so I hope it's got a good flow to it.

As always, critique is more than welcomed! I'd love to know your thoughts. :3

~Cutevampirecollie


	7. Chapter 6- The Key

Okay, sorry for the little bit of a wait on this chapter. Storms have been affecting when I want to write chapters into when I'm actually "able" to write them. ^^; Anyways….not sure what to say about this one. So just read and find out. :D

My two lovelies should know who they are and why they inspire me constantly. ~heart~

And as always, I do not own Kingdom Hearts. The rights belong to Squisney. Enjoy!~

….

_It was as bad as the first time. Or maybe worse. No, _definitely _worse. Dlexa couldn't help but think that as she only barely managed to dodge a powerful swipe from the Darkside. She grunted as the creature's massive claws grazed her side. Falling to her knees, she looked at Leda out of the corner of her eye. Both of them were breathing harshly, their nostrils flaring because of their exerting, futile efforts. _

"_This is hopeless…" Dlexa muttered, holding her side, gripping the fabric of her white tank-top roughly between her fingers. Leda did an agile back flip and landed on her feet only to get knocked back by the Darkside's second slash aimed at her. _

_She then fell to her knees the same way Dlexa had, groaning softly in what was obviously defeat. They both looked up only to see the Darkside fading slowly away. "What's…happening?" Dlexa managed to ask. Leda shook her head grimly, her lips set in a dark line. "It's going to come back soon. It's only going to feed on the darkness that's buried the deepest within our heart. It knows it's close to beating us…it just needs more power and then…" _

"_We're toast?" Dlexa finished, her eyebrows furrowing in disbelief. Leda could only nod, a sigh escaping her lips, slightly fraying her already messy, sweaty bangs. "We really need to find a way to beat this thing. I'm almost positive that if we can defeat it…it will unlock the power for us to control our darkness. It's drawn to negative, dark-hearted people. You're negative…and we contain darkness in our heart…it's no wonder it wants to feed off what's inside us. We need light…"_

_Dlexa's shadow blue eyes widened, her lips parting. "Roxas…he's the only light I know. The only person I know that can actually control the element we both so desperately need." Leda shook her head. "No…there's one other. Sora. The light inside his heart is why Roxas has the ability to control the element." _

_Dlexa cocked her head. "But how the heck are they supposed to help us fight something that's inside of us?" Leda stood up, crossing her arms over her athletic, petite frame. "I don't know. There's only one way I can think of that would allow us to all come together, but…I'm not sure if _she_ knows what to do…."_

"_Who?" "Someone who also came from Sora's heart. She was a replica the Organization used to _catch _Roxas' memories. Basically it was to gain _another _keyblade wielder for the Organization who had the ability and strength to match Sora's. But their plans were foiled, obviously. The replica…._Xion _went back where she belongs. Inside Sora's heart. It is her true home after all…"_

_Leda shook her head, giving a small, mirthless smile. "She may be able to create a bridge of memories in our heart and in Sora's. Because Roxas and Sora…in a sense share a heart as well they would also share the "memory bridge" as well. Maybe she could even use memories that aren't ours. I don't know. Ultimately, if they could cross over their bridge and somehow onto ours…that would lead them right into the depths of our heart. And then they could help us beat this stupid thing… But it's a long shot. I'm not sure if Xion even knows how to build a bridge like that. Maybe I'm just being delusional…"_

_Dlexa pursed her lips in thought, standing up and crossing her arms over her chest as well, making a very close reflection of Leda opposite her. "Now who's being negative? I haven't been able to truly think a good or comforting or hopeful thought since my…creation, whatever you want to call it. But…maybe we just have to be positive that this Xion person can actually do what you're saying might be possible."_

_Leda's eyes widened in shock, almost comically so, making Dlexa crack a rueful smile. "Yeah, coming from _me _it probably doesn't mean much but during the time we've spent fighting this thing I've realized that I've got someone beside me…who's going through the same troubles I am and it feels good…to know that I'm not alone. That may sound selfish, but….now I realize I don't want to beat this creature for me but for you as well. It is…your heart after all." _

_Dlexa put a hand to her chest, closing her gorgeous orbs of blue and waited until she was able to feel the steady thump against her chest. That had hurt her to say. That the heart inside her wasn't hers but was the girl's standing across from her. She had known that all along but she was actually admitting it now and though it hurt, it was the truth. She needed to help protect it in return for it being inside of her. And she couldn't do that alone. _

_That realization hurt her, too. When she had first been created…she had wanted nothing more than to just curl up in the darkness and go back to sleep forever…but these people…_Leda _and _Roxas…_they had wormed their way underneath her skin and suddenly she found herself wishing that things didn't have to be like _this. _That things could have been normal. Whatever normal was…it had to be better than this, at least. _

_But…the small, tiny ray of light in all this darkness was that she _wasn't _alone. She had Leda and maybe for now…that was enough._

….

Namine turned at the sound of footsteps coming toward her. "You look troubled, Namine. Care to let me see into your thoughts?" The girl sighed in sorrow. "I keep thinking that Xion can do something for Leda and Dlexa, but…I just don't know _what._"

They both stood in silence for a few minutes before a single spark of curiosity was able to break the tension that had Namine concerned. "Wait…Xion is a _memory catcher_, is she not?" Diz nodded thoughtfully. "Yes, she was indeed. Created as a replica of Sora to give the Organization the upper hand."

Namine shook her head, frustration clearly beginning to make itself known. "That feels like it's somehow an important part to helping Leda and Dlexa defeat their inner demon. I just can't figure out why. They need _light._"

Diz almost looked as if he were smiling at Namine's naivety. "Namine…memories are a powerful thing…a force to be reckoned with. You should know, seeing as your power is to rearrange the links that tie them all together. Somehow…memories that have no purpose came to be in our many worlds. They just float about and sometimes can even enter into unsuspecting people. The replica…is also like Kairi, who is your _Other._ Sora's memories of one of the people he cares for most shone through and gave the replica her appearance, though slightly altered. Her personality…she gained on her own. Seeing as you are another part of Kairi, doesn't it make sense that the replica could find a way to gain control over memories that aren't her own?"

Namine remained still with a pensive expression for quite a few moments before what Diz was implying became clear to her. She turned toward him, her clasped hands quivering in front of her chest. "You mean she could somehow gain control over the homeless memories?" Her hope quickly turned to utter confusion. But…what would that do?"

Diz chuckled softly, deeply. "Memories are also the reason people can interact with one another, become friends with others, and convey so clearly the powerful emotions which their hearts possess. A person cannot stay friends with someone if they are unable to remember when they first became acquainted with them. So it's reasonable to assume that memories are the only thing capable of keeping people connected to one another."

The feeling of hope came back to Namine with such force that she actually stiffened as if someone had slapped her. "Xion…could take control over the memories and use them to unite Sora and Roxas with Leda and Dlexa. She could build a _bridge_ with them. But… why wouldn't she be able to use their own memories to connect them?"

Diz turned toward her, giving her a calm, patient stare. "She _can_ use their memories. She'll need them to make the bridge. But despite how close these four are to one another, the distance between their two hearts is still immense. It will be a long journey….And _she'll_ need all the memories she can get to bring this bridge into existence."

Namine's slender, pale blonde eyebrows furrowed. "But will she be able to do it? Memories aren't easy to control. They still slip out of my grasp so easily…" Diz smiled a small, humorless smile. "Let's hope she can do this. And soon. Because if not…the worlds will die completely. Sora can't save them all on his own. His light needs a darkness to counteract it. Memories could very well hold the key….

….

Sora couldn't make heads or tails of where to go next. That was completely obvious to his two companions, who also had no clue of what world their friends could be on. "Why do you think finding that girl again is important, Sora?" Donald asked as he continued to waddle along. Sora didn't want to dive into the tidal wave that explaining about what the black-haired girl had told him would no doubt bring. That girl…in essence…was his sister. It was enough to make him feel like he had repeatedly been pushed down onto railroad tracks and then run over by the actual train. He didn't want to believe that his sister was actually gone. At least the girl he had actually known. He had always thought that if something ever happened to Leda, he would feel a snap signifying that a part of his heart had been ripped right out of his chest. He hadn't felt the snap…but now that he knew what had happened…he felt _hollow. _Even if there was another part of her that had come alive in her place…that girl still wasn't Leda.

Sora was so occupied by his thoughts that he didn't realize that they weren't alone anymore until Donald gave a squawk of complete surprise. The brunette blinked, forcing his thoughts away – at least for the moment- and blinked again, numerous times, as he finally realized _who _was in front of him. His mouth dropped open in absolute disbelief. "R-R-R-Riku…Riku…King Mickey!" Sora's blue eyes began to shine with sudden, unshed tears and he ran to Riku, enveloping his friend in a hug. "We've been looking all over for you. I thought I'd never find you…."

Riku returned the hug for a couple moments, before pulling away, allowing Sora to get a good look at him. As the King and Donald and Goofy were getting reacquainted, Sora couldn't help but stare at his silver-haired friend. "Wait…why are you wearing that coat? And why are you wearing a blindfold?"

Riku smiled, small and bitter. "We'll have to save that for later. Along with a _proper_ reunion…but for now, we have a bit of a problem." Mickey's ears twitched, now picking up on the two boys' conversation. "That's an understatement, Riku. While it is good to see you Sora…we need your help. You remember when I told you about the Organization before Riku and I closed the Door? How they would soon begin to cause trouble for you and the worlds? And that you had to be careful?"

Sora tilted his head slowly, sifting through the memories inside of him and finally remembering what Mickey was talking about. Mickey, seeing the recognition, continued. "The Organization collects hearts because they don't have any of their own. A person whose heart has left their body for even a short amount of time usually fades away and comes back as another version of themselves. In your case…you didn't succumb to the darkness. They're actually using your Other to collect their hearts for them because only a keyblade is able to do so."

"Their leader tells them that if they collect hearts and complete the powerful worldly force known as _Kingdom Hearts _that they'll eventually regain their hearts and go back to who they used to be. But their leader is power hungry and he believes that darkness is the only way to become powerful. He wants all the power he can get and that's where you sister comes in. Leda's body and heart were touched by darkness…her heart made it out alright, her body on the other hand…"

Mickey sighed regretfully, his ears slumping downward, hating to speak of only such sadness and evil. "Her heart was touched _and _tainted by darkness. Therefore her heart now contains the most powerful force of darkness these worlds have ever known."

Riku stepped forward, putting a comforting hand on his friend's shoulder as he saw the sadness creep into Sora's sky blue eyes. He had been shocked when he and Mickey had reported back to Diz and Namine and they had told them that Dlexa _felt_ like Leda because she ultimately _was _Leda. Just a different version, so to speak.

"The worlds are dying because of people like Xemnas. The worlds need some form of balance. You can't have darkness without light and you're the light. But to keep light shining brightly…you need darkness to balance the light out. Dlexa…your sister's _Other_…she has the darkness needed to balance out your light and return life to all the worlds."

Sora stepped back from Riku's touch, grateful for his friend's attempt at comfort but not in the mood for it. He cast his eyes downward, sighing softly. "You know I want to save the worlds…but I can't find Dlexa again. I've tried, but…she's not on any of the worlds I've checked so far." Riku looked at Mickey at they both nodded at one another. "We have a couple ideas of where she could be," Mickey said, wagging his tail, trying to brighten his brown-haired friend's mood.

"We also…need _your _Other," Riku said after a pregnant pause. "And Leda." Sora's head shot back up, looking at Riku and the King with an expression mixed between hurt and complete confusion. "How do you expect to find Leda if she's inside this _Dlexa_ person?"

Riku and Mickey looked at each other once more and then back at the other three. "We'll explain while we search."

….

Xion could feel herself physically and mentally trembling under the pressure of the task now ahead of her. She could feel the memories floating around her, some more vibrant and colorful and stronger than others. Others were sad and full of nothing but despair and rage. But she couldn't focus on how bad certain memories felt to her. She had to focus solely on pulling them inside of her. She knew it was the _only_ way to make things right.

….

This one somehow feels much longer than it actually is. How's that work? XD I really hope this chapter wasn't confusing. Xion's "bridge" of memories makes sense to me so I hope I explained it well enough for all you readers. Feedback is always appreciated and something I yearn for deeply. And look at my lil' Dlexa actually knowing she could possibly be friends with Leda now. I feel like a proud parent. :D

I also hope it's not weird that every person seemed to know the way to get all four of them together. XD; That doesn't sound weird, does it? Did I explain it well? ;o;

Hopefully I shall get the next chapter done within the next couple of days. I'm really working hard on continuing her story as often as I can so please bear with me. ;w; As always…until next time.~

~Cutevampirecollie


	8. Chapter 7- Corruption

Alright, we're onto chapter 7 now! Woot! We're about halfway through now so I'm quite proud of myself! :3 And for the readers who have made it this far as well, thank you with all of my heart! ~hugstightly~ As always, the inspiration has come from my friends and I thank both them and my characters as well for not giving up on me. ;w; Thank you all!

Oh, just to warn you…you may want to kill Xemnas at the end of this chapter. I know I do. ^^; So be prepared because I warned you! ;D

I do not own Kingdom Hearts or its characters. The rights belong to Squisney. Dlexa and Leda belong to yours truly; moi.

Enjoy!~

….

_Leda could feel the uneasiness radiating clearly from her Other and frowned. Dlexa seemed almost jumpy and skittish, like when she had first been born into existence and was nervous around everything and everybody. But she was slowly changing into a more confident and less timid person. Why was she now reversing the process instead of continuing to move forward in it? Wait….now Leda understood. Dlexa was afraid of the uncertainty pressing heavily upon their future like a foggy veil. _

"_I think Xion's begun to work on the bridge." No answer. "Dlexa…you need to prepare Roxas. You need to tell him the plan." _That_ however, earned a response. Dlexa's head lifted up, a sharp movement, and her eyes narrowed slightly. "Well if she's not done with the bridge yet then I'm keeping my mouth shut. Why make Roxas anxious until we know for sure that this is all going to work? He's just starting to smile around me…and laugh, instead of eyeing me warily as if I'm a rabbit that's about to run away." _

_Leda raised her hand, opening her mouth to speak, to tell Dlexa that she had run away from him plenty of times before so his reactions toward her made more sense than she realized, but Dlexa quickly opened her mouth before Leda could reply. "Shut it." She sighed, a pregnant pause filling the air. "Ever since we had ice cream up on the clock tower…we've been starting to bond. Like a real brother and sister. I…I don't want to ruin that by making him worry." _

_Leda sighed sadly, brushing a stray strand of brown hair behind her ear. "He'd only worry about you because he cares. Doesn't he deserve to know the truth about what's going on?" Dlexa shook her head, the movement a mix between defiance and hopelessness. Dlexa wanted to hope that things would turn out okay. She really did. But she couldn't deny that it all seemed hopeless when looked at with a certain perspective. Her shoulders sagged and her eyes fluttered closed. "I'll tell him…just not now…"_

_Leda pursed her lips tightly. She didn't exactly like the answer Dlexa had given but she didn't want to push the poor girl past her limits either. "Alright…but you better hurry. The Darkside's going to come back soon. I can feel it."_

….

Dlexa opened her eyes only to find that she was back in her room. She made no attempt to get up whatsoever, instead deciding on closing her eyes again. Except this time…she didn't go back to the Station of Awakening. She just wanted to think…by herself….about what things would be like if she and Roxas were born their own people….born _normal._ What world would they have been born in? Twilight Town? Would they go to school and learn things like math and writing instead of dark creatures called Heartless and how to go about collecting hearts? Who would their mother and father be? Would they still somehow know the other members of the Organization, and would the other members actually be good people? Well, not counting Axel and Demyx…they were the only already good ones there besides Roxas.

If they had been born normal…they'd get to goof off and put off doing their homework until the last minute, sing at the top of their lungs to songs only they could hear and have people look at them like they were head cases…they'd get to eat ice cream any time they wanted and not have to worry about stupid, boring old missions. Nothing in their lives would be pointless…

Rolling over onto her other side and opening her eyes once more, Dlexa couldn't help but think to herself that things seemed pretty pointless now. Would their plan even work? Maybe it was because she didn't have any clue how things would turn out. She was being negative again…which would only make the Darkside even stronger. But the uncertainty scared Dlexa so much…that she was finding she almost didn't care.

It was all so confusing…her thoughts seemed to be playing tug-of-war with her mind, dragging it off in a direction she would rather it not go. She put her hands to her face and groaned loudly, curling her fingers into her palms so tightly that her skin slowly started turning white.

A knock sounded on her door but she still didn't put forth any effort to get up or answer the person on the other side. But they came in anyway so it really didn't even matter.

"Number Fifteen…you look like you could…use some cheering up. Please do tell…what is wrong?" That voice…that slimy, sadistic, evilly, subtly sarcastic voice…she knew who it was and Dlexa only wished that she could make a move to hide under her bed. She didn't want to deal with this prick in her current state of mind.

She was feeling like a volcano ready to explode, the lava inside of her only beginning to burn hotter and hotter. "What. Do. You want?" She seethed, turning onto her opposite side so that her back was facing him. She didn't want to have to look at his ugly face.

Xemnas could only grin manically at the sight the pathetic, little brunette made. After hearing what Saix had to tell him about the plans of Namine and Diz, he hadn't been happy. But after thinking about it, he realized that every person that was fighting against him was part of a chain, all binding together to ultimately create his destruction. But Dlexa was the weak link. All it would take was a little _criticizing _on his part and she wouldn't be able to help defeat the darkness surging powerfully within her. And the others needed her.

His smile only widened at the thought, his expression so dark and maleficent that he seemed the very picture of evil incarnate itself. "I wonder…how it is that you and that other girl…what was her name? Oh yes…_Leda_…have been able to fool yourselves into thinking that I wouldn't find out about your little plan sooner or later." Dlexa's eyes snapped open, widening in horror at the mention of Leda's name spoken from _this_ man's lips.

Xemnas leaned over the girl's body, his lips nearly touching the shell of her ear, his breath softly brushing against the edge of her cheek, making her shudder. "You do realize that you're only a copy of Leda, correct? Nothing you do will be able to change that. So stop allowing that meddling brunette to fool you into thinking that there's hope for you. You will _never_ be your own person. Even the rest of us Nobodies…are only copies of what used to be. You'd best remember that for your future…however long of it you have left anyway…"

And with that, Xemnas stood back up with an eerie grace and walked out of Dlexa's room. Dlexa only curled up into a tiny ball on her bed, her arms tightly encircling her legs, her hands gripping any fabric they could reach. She needed to hold onto something. She was no longer in The World That Never Was…she was back in the waters where she had come to existence…where she had taken her first breath. Except this time she wasn't breathing in. She was blacking out. And she was drowning.

This had been her fear since the very beginning. The reason for her anger, jealously and hopelessness…. And Xemnas had known that. He had been smart to use her insecurities against her. Her eyes slowly fluttered closed, her body now going limp on the bed…and she was faintly able to think before she felt herself falling inside the black…_I think Xemnas' plan worked…_

….

_Leda quickly, barely dodged a strike aimed at her, looking at what was floating in front of the creature's chest desperately. Dlexa was just rising and falling, her eyes closed and unmoving, not even a flutter of movement to be seen. _

"_Dlexa! Can you hear me? You have to listen!" She jumped, barely missing another set of claws that wanted nothing more than to scratch her away into nothingness. "Xemnas knew these were your fears all along! But there's still a chance to prove him wrong. You have to wake up!" _

_All the while, Leda was jumping, cart-wheeling, flipping, doing anything to prevent the Darkside from landing a blow. Her eyes widened in horror as she began to see something slowly fading into view above Dlexa's chest. It was her heart…their heart. Now that Dlexa was physically and mentally unable to protect herself or fight back, the Darkside was trying to get the heart for itself. But because it was still iridescently intangible he was unable to get his claws on it._

_Even if Leda were to continue to reassure the slumbering Dlexa, telling her that she was in fact her own person and not another Leda, she knew that it would be pointless. Dlexa had already heard it from Leda's own lips and not believed her. She had to hear the words from someone else. Leda's blue eyes widened in realization. _"Roxas…."

_She had to get him and Sora here. _Now._ But the bridge wasn't finished yet, was it? Leda closed her eyes tightly and concentrated. She felt the presence of her own memories, some stirring wildly within her more than others, but…she also was now sensing memories that were not her own. That she had no recollection of._

"_Alright…I guess it's time." She looked back at Dlexa, wishing she could stay there with the other girl. But staying would do nothing to help her. And even though Leda knew Dlexa might be mad at her after she woke up and found out about what Leda was about to do…she had to do it. It was the only way. She looked back at the sea of never ending darkness surrounding her, took a deep breath in and closed her eyes._

….

Back in Dlexa's room, the girl on the bed finally moved. At first just a simple twitch but then her eyes began to flutter open, her body leaning upright on the bed. Blue eyes blinked and Leda felt a pang of guilt strike her. She hadn't wanted to take control of her Other's body, she really, _really_ hadn't but she needed to find Roxas and Sora. To save Dlexa. And possibly…._hopefully _the worlds as well.

She stood up, looked around her surroundings quickly and then darted out of the room and toward Roxas'. Upon finding it she made no effort to knock and instead just burst in unannounced. Roxas's shadow blue eyes widened at her sudden entrance and her rattled appearance. "Lex, what's wrong?" He stood up quickly and went to her side, putting his hands on her shoulders.

Leda looked at him through Dlexa's eyes and shook her head, moving so that Roxas' arms fell from her body and he was too far to reach out to her again. "I'm not Dlexa. I'm Leda. Dlexa's in trouble." Roxas blinked, torn between slapping Dlexa back to reality and laughing at what obviously had to be a joke. He shook his head slowly. "Maybe I better take you to see Vexen. It's been awhile since your last dose of darkness…" He went to take her wrist but she instantly jerked away, ripping it from his grasp.

Her eyes narrowed and she glared, the blue in her eyes almost intensifying as she stared daggers at the blond-haired boy. "You think I'm kidding?" A sarcastic, bitter laugh. "Dlexa told you about the Darkside inside of us, right? Well now she's unable to fight it and she's in a deep sleep. It's trying to take her heart away from her. And at this rate…it will succeed. Do you want your sister to die?!"

Every word was laced with venom, as powerful as a snake's and her eyes only narrowed further. They were running on borrowed time, and it was not much. They had to get going otherwise Leda feared that there would be nothing left of Dlexa when she got back. A part of Leda, the selfish part of her that didn't take the chance to rear its head too often – but was now doing so- thought that if that happened then she could live again, just in Dlexa's body instead of her own.

Leda instantly squashed the thought down angrily. Sure she wanted to live, but she wouldn't take away someone else's life to do that. _Never._

"So are you coming or not?" Leda held out her hand, an air of impatience surrounding her. Roxas tilted his head slightly. "You're…serious?" Leda nodded, rolling her eyes. "Duh!" Roxas looked at her hand and then back up at her face. He suddenly felt a pang in his chest, making him gasp. It had almost felt like…he actually had a heart of his own, an indefinable ache making it throb painfully. He could see what she was talking about now. It had taken him awhile to sense it but Leda was right. Though she was his sister in appearance, she wasn't Dlexa on the inside.

His eyes now burning with determination, he took his sister's hand, the ache in his chest quickly and viciously returning when it was Leda that squeezed his hand back and not the person he really wanted it to be, or should've been.

….

Roxas and Leda were both now in Halloween Town, why…? Roxas still had no idea what they were doing here. "What are we doing?" He asked, following behind Leda almost like a lost, blond puppy. He had no clue what the brunette seemed to be searching for.

She stopped in her searching to look back at him with glowing, diamond-like eyes. "We need to find your Other. _Sora._ You are able to use and control light because his heart has light inside of it. The Darkside can only be defeated by light, which I sadly do not possess the power to control."

She resumed her searching, frantically, her eyes darting every which way, her feet moving across every acre of the macabre town. Leda quickly decided that continuing in this world would be pointless, so with a wave of her arm, she created one of Dlexa's portals. She laughed weakly. "I had hoped I would be able to do that, but I didn't think I'd succeed." Without even waiting for a reply to her comment she walked through it, Roxas scrambling to keep up with her fast-legged pace.

"Wait a minute…if the Darkside is inside of you…how are Sora and I even supposed to help you fight it?" Now they were in the Pride lands, Roxas as a blonde lion cub and Leda as Dlexa's Pride lands form, a brown and white cheetah. Leda gazed at him with serious blue eyes. "It's too hard to explain fully right now, but let's just say that _memories_ will be involved…"

After running across quite a big stretch of the African plains, Leda decided to rule this world out as well. She sat down, her tail curling against her side. She had started with random worlds, hoping that with a stroke of luck they'd find Sora on the first or second try. Right now was their second try and still no sign of her brother…

Her tail swished back and forth against the ground in an agitated, angry manner. "What world?" She murmured to herself. Roxas just sat beside her, staring at her, anxiously waiting for her next command. He was itching to get his sister back and this…_imposter_ out of her body. Deep down he knew that Leda was the reason for his sister's creation and existence same as Sora was the reason for his…but he didn't know or care about Leda. He knew _Dlexa. _He cared about _Dlexa._

Leda realized with a start that she was completely and utterly stupid. One of the worlds that was special to her brother because of what had taken place there…_that _was where they would find him. She opened another portal, making Roxas jump in surprise, only to have to scramble to keep up once more.

Once in Hollow Bastion and back in the form of humans, Leda began looking around, Roxas trying his best to follow Leda's lead. But he didn't know what Sora looked like. Would he see an exact replica of himself, as if he was just looking in a mirror? Or would they be different?

Leda and Roxas had their backs turned so they didn't notice someone was behind them until the person spoke. "Dlexa?" Leda's eyes widened and she whirled around, now seeing her brother standing in front of her. Sora took a step closer to her. "You're my sister's Nobody…aren't you?" He began to reach for her, his hand pausing mid-stretch and then dejectedly dropping back to his side. "But you're not _her_…"

Leda nervously cleared her throat, tapping one of her feet repeatedly on the marble ground in a vain effort to just breathe and keep calm. "Actually…at the moment the real Dlexa's asleep and I had to take over in order to protect her. It's me, Sora. Leda." She reached out her hand toward him, pausing midway, unable to continue, but unable to drop her hand like he had with his.

Sora was only able to stare, wide-eyed and pale, feeling like his limbs were jelly and at any moment now would be unable to hold him up. This couldn't be real…Could it?

….

Well, that was a surprise, wasn't it? ~laughs nervously~ Don't kill me please! XD; I'm not too sure if I should have wrote a couple more sentences before ending this chapter….Do you think it stopped on a weird note? Hmmm… I also hope the parts where one character's explaining something to someone aren't boring. And I do hope the 'bridge' thing isn't confusing either. I hope I'm not screwing with anyone's brain too badly.

Anyways, there's your surprise for this chapter. You want to kill Xemnas yet? Hopefully I'm keeping everyone in character. ^^; Hopefully you're also still with me after this chapter…I hope I'm not boring anyone on my climb toward the climax. Critique as always please. ;w; Hopefully I should have the next chapter out by either Tuesday night or sometime Wednesday. ~fingers crossed~

Until next time…^-^

~Cutevampirecollie


	9. Chapter 8- Into the light

And now ontoooooooo….chapter 8, yay! XD I think this is the farthest I've ever come in a multi-chapter story! And this one, I is so going to finish! I promise.~ Anyways…quite a cliffhanger last time, wasn't it? ;D Sorry…^^; I really hope I didn't make you too anxious, if anxious at all. Lol.

I'm not sure if you'll really consider anything in this chapter a surprise or twist but we'll just see, I guess. ^^ As always, dedicated to two of my lovelies. You know who you are. ~heart~

I do not own Kingdom Hearts or its related characters. They belong to Squisney.~ Leda and Dlexa, on the other hand belong to me.

….

Sora still couldn't help but think this was all someone's very sick and twisted idea of a joke. He wasn't staring at Leda…he was staring at the girl he now knew was her Other. But it felt like _her_...Was that because Leda was still inside Dlexa? Or was Dlexa actually in a current comatose state, making the girl he was talking to now really Leda? Was he even making any sense? The answer was obviously no.

Shadowed blue eyes blinked owlishly at him as their owner smiled crookedly. "This must be so hard to comprehend…You always were a little bit on the slow side." Leda, still in control of Dlexa's body giggled quietly, her smile softening. And hearing a comment like that, coming from this girl, this girl that should have been a stranger but wasn't…he knew…he _knew_ it was his sister. Somehow.

"Leda?" He still couldn't stop the disbelieving tone from accenting his voice. A part of him was still afraid that this wasn't real. That it was all a dream and the moment he accepted that this was actually his sister he would wake up and be torn, _shattered_ into millions of pieces. But there was something else…Sora's head tilted to the side, much like a chocolate-lab's what with the way his spikes flopped like dog ears, and finally glanced over at the other figure.

He…was blond and his spikes weren't as long or bushy as Sora's…his eyes seemed to be a darker shade of blue as well, and yet…it was like he was looking into a mirror. "Who are you again? You look really familiar…" Roxas rubbed the back of his head and laughed nervously. "Yeah, I could say the same about you. My name's Roxas." Leda looked between the two boys and she smiled gently. "You two are both part of each other. When you freed your heart to save Kairi's…that was when Roxas came to be. He may not have his own heart but he is connected quite deeply and intricately to yours."

Sora, quite obviously looked dazed and somewhat confused. He felt that he should question his sanity but what his sister was saying just felt _right_. Like he had known it all along but had just needed to be reminded of it. He could not explain why. He just couldn't. Roxas tilted his head slightly, Sora following his lead. It really did seem like there was an invisible mirror of sorts between them. They both reached out their arms and slowly, so achingly slow…their hands met and their fingertips touched. Both boys blinked and quickly pulled away.

Sora felt like someone had just shocked him with a huge volt of electricity except it didn't hurt whatsoever. Roxas felt as if his whole arm had been set on fire but the tingling that the imaginary flames left him with felt strangely good. They both looked back at one another and couldn't help but grin. They were still quite stunned that this was possible; that ultimately Sora and Roxas were just two halves of the same person, but there was no denying the surging rush of feelings through them. There was just no denying any of it._ It felt right._ No one else would be able to understand, or even come close to being able to picture this sort of thing happening, but that was alright. Who did they need to prove themselves to at this particular moment in time anyway?

Leda, though hating to break their sudden unison up, cleared her throat to get their attention. They both looked at her with doe, blue eyes. She couldn't help but quickly smile at the sight. Then she sobered and her expression turned deadly serious. "This isn't my body. It's Dlexa's. And she's in trouble…we have to save her."

Roxas frowned. "You never did tell me how we were going to be able to do that exactly." Sora looked puzzled as well. "If she's inside you then how are we supposed to help? Why is she in trouble?" Sora really wanted to ask why Leda couldn't just stay as she was but he bit his lip, knowing it was a selfish wish. "Her darkness is too strong…she had been managing to keep it at bay for only so long but…Xemnas set her off, making her lose the only feeble control she had. Basically, it's like we've got to fight and defeat her inner demon. Otherwise…the darkness will just destroy everything in its path, including all that's left of me."

Leda looked at Sora, sensing that he was hesitant to go through with this because he didn't want to let her go a second time. He gulped softly and nodded, now fully understanding the consequences of letting the darkness win. He already barely had enough of his sister left _now_…he didn't want to lose her completely. "Alright. Then let's go."

Roxas gazed at Sora with glowing blue eyes, like those of a cat. "I'm sorry. Dlexa's my sister….And you had to sacrifice yours so she would be created. I wish things didn't have to be this way." Sora wanted to ask how Roxas knew what he was feeling, too. Leda knew but that was because she was his sister. Wait…if Roxas was a part of him then it all made complete sense. It would have been truly frightening to know that someone he had just met already knew him inside and out if Roxas wasn't his other half.

Sora finally nodded his head, giving a slight smile. "Yeah, I know. Me too."

Leda cleared her throat once more. "Now, like I was saying…you now know why we need to save Dlexa. As for how…you're familiar with Xion, am I correct, little brother?" Sora's eyes widened in shock. "How do you…how do you about that?" Leda smiled bitterly. "Let's just say that I figured out a lot about the Organization after the darkness ate my body. Before Dlexa gave my heart a home, I learned many things. I still don't know how for most of them. Anyways…Xion has a rather unique ability. Just look for the memories that are inside you, whether they're your own memories or ones that are new and alien to you. Concentrate. _Hard._"

Leda reached out her hand toward her brother's and they intertwined. Leda held out her other hand toward Roxas and grasped his as well. And then she patiently waited for Sora and Roxas to take one another's hands. "Close your eyes and focus." All three of them did just that. They each let their memories, whether sad or happy, flow through them. When one ended and another one began they just followed the lead. It was like walking across a bridge. That's what it felt like and they didn't know what else to do. The whirlwind of memories inside each of their head's was slowly began to lead them to somewhere new and unknown. Somewhere that was completely familiar to Leda but only seemed vaguely familiar to both Sora and Roxas.

Once the memories in their heads seemingly began to settle down, turning into a light rain instead of a hurricane, they all opened their eyes and found themselves standing on a surface made only of stained glass. The scenery –not just the atmosphere- was also something Leda was very acquainted with therefore allowing her attention to immediately fall back onto the creature standing in front of all of them.

Both Roxas' and Sora's gasps were so loud they probably could have been heard by someone who was deaf. Then Roxas was suddenly running toward the creature, both his keyblades drawn. His sister was just floating there…her heart floating above her chest with the creature inching it claws closer and closer to it. He swung Oathkeeper and the hit connected, making the Darkside howl in pain, its limbs flailing rampantly about as it tried to reorient itself. When Oblivion made contact it forced the Darkside even farther away from Dlexa.

Only a couple seconds longer and Sora had his keyblade out as well, though he had decided to remain with Kingdom Key. Having to memorize which ones were good for attacking and defense was just too mind-boggling sometimes. Both Sora and Roxas began to force the creature farther and farther away from the lifeless doll Dlexa had become. Leda tensed, positioning her body into an attack stance. For this creature to be defeated it needed light but it also needed a little stab of darkness. At least she could be somewhat useful since she herself did not have a keyblade.

When the immense creature gave a howl of complete and utter agony and rage, Leda grunted and jumped as high as she possibly could before performing a spinning kick aimed at, well, who else? To allow the darkness of her and Dlexa's heart to take full effect against the creature, Leda had taken every bit of rage and sorrow she had in her, letting all of the bad fill her up completely for enough time to give the creature a dose of its own horrendous medicine. Light was the only reason they had managed to break through its defenses but oddly enough, darkness was the only thing that could finish it off in the end.

Maybe it was because the light had shown it what it was really like to be good and whole in essence, essentially somehow giving a hopeless creature hope. But because it was created to be darkness and only darkness, having no mind of its own…the light would never be able to change it, or reshape it. Its hope to become good and somehow _whole _would make its darkness even stronger, deep down knowing that it could never be the way it wanted to. Therefore…you had to destroy it with what it was made of. Before it destroyed you.

As the Darkside continued to growl and writhe about in pain, slowly vanishing in wisps of darkness, now fading from all existence, the heart floating above Dlexa's chest slowly began to ease itself back into her body, making her eyes begin to flutter and twitch as she came out from her comatose slumber. After the Darkside faded completely, only its echoing cry filling the space around them, Dlexa fell against the stained glass in a heap and tangle of limbs. Her eyes closed once more before she groaned quietly and slowly re-opened them. She looked at the three people above her and jolted upright, scrambling backwards automatically because of her body's choice to respond with _flight_. "What the…? I get how you're here…but why is Roxas here and…who's the other boy that looks too much like Roxas for comfort?"

Now that their immediately current threat was gone, Leda managed a giggle. "Xion's bridge worked, silly. Look around…who's not here that was here before? Besides these two?" Dlexa sat there blinking for a couple moments before eyeing her surroundings with caution. "Wait…you beat it!" Dlexa's mouth parted in astonishment. But her blue, diamond-dust eyes soon fell downward, staring gloomily at her black sneakers. "While I did nothing. You all defeated it to help me and I couldn't even do anything!"

Leda sighed, her hands going to her hips. "You're an idiot. Your inner demon has finally been taken down for the count and you still somehow manage to blame yourself." Leda shook her head and smiled at the shorter-haired brunette, holding out her hand. "You're alive…that's what you did. You stayed alive while the Darkside was trying to take control. You could have easily allowed that monster to get your heart, but you didn't give it up…You're not weak. And don't bother denying that's what you were going to say because it'll just be a load of bull."

Dlexa finally looked up at the other girl and couldn't help but reach out and take her hand, allowing Leda to pull her to her feet. "By the way…this would be Sora. _My _brother. And your brother's other half, so to speak." Dlexa blinked, instantly becoming wary, only this time in a timid sort of way. She instantly went to hide behind Roxas, peeking out from behind part of his arm. "He's the one that you have to protect now because I no longer physically can. He's the most important person in all the worlds to me….you have to promise you'll keep him safe. No matter what."

Dlexa realized with a start that not too long ago, Leda's words would have irritated her beyond belief. Seriously, protecting someone she didn't know…but all this time, she _had_ known Sora. He was the piece of Roxas that was missing. And…she would die to protect that. Besides…she held Leda's heart inside of her chest now…she owed it to Leda to do what the other girl couldn't anymore.

Not to mention that looking at Sora's already smiling face made Dlexa feel as if she were staring at a thousand suns. Not having a sun in The World That Never Was could make you feel even lonelier if you were already having a bad day, and even if you were having an okay day, it was still depressing to know that the sun would never rise. Dlexa could already feel her heart aching at the sight. Except this time it was good ache.

She slowly stepped out from behind her brother. "Alright. That shouldn't be too hard to do. I'm…Dlexa. It's…good to finally meet the person I've been told all this time that I have to protect." "Wait…she's been telling you this whole time to protect me?" Sora gasped softly, his eyes widening slightly. "Yeah, she did it so often it bordered on downright aggressive."

Leda smiled sheepishly, gazing at the spiky-brunet with a tender expression. "You're the person I care most for. Protecting you and making sure you stayed happy was the whole point of my existence. And even though Dlexa's her own person who just so happens to also be a part of me…she was meant to protect you to. Because that's all I care about." At that point, Sora couldn't stop himself from running into his older sister's arms, holding her tightly to him, partly so tight because he was afraid if he let her go again she would disappear, and partly because he had just missed her that much.

But all too soon, Leda disengaged herself from Sora's grip. "We do have something else to worry about, I'm afraid." Dlexa's eyes narrowed at her Other's words, quickly catching her drift. "_Xemnas."_

"Kingdom Hearts _is_ real…but Xemnas only wants power for himself. He believes that darkness is the key to unlocking his true potential. It's because of people like him that the worlds are dying…" Leda shook her head. "I'm sorry, Sora. But from here on out you won't be able to see me in person like this. The worlds need to be saved." Sora looked ready to vehemently begin protesting but Leda quickly held up a hand so she could continue. "But…I'm still inside of Dlexa. We're both part of one another just like you and Roxas are. Never forget…that whenever you want to see me or know I'm there. Just look inside of Dlexa."

With all that said, Leda then closed her eyes, taking a deep breath in. Cracks began to make their way across the stained glass, until the surface was unable to hold them all up any longer. They all felt themselves falling, time seeming unbearably slow for just a few, short seconds. There was a sudden, powerful jolt and when they all opened their eyes they found themselves in The Castle That Never Was.

"Ah…very good. You've managed to gain control. What a show." Dlexa was on her feet in a split second, Oblivion ready in her hands and set to strike. Sora and Roxas quickly followed suit. "Well now…you all are eyeing me as if _I'm _the threat…that's quite amusing actually. But surely you must realize that I'm going to be the one that wins in the end."

There was only a second of silence before Xemnas summoned his weapons to his hands and grinned maliciously. "Oh, and by the way…you're outnumbered." His voice was dangerously silky as one by one, the other members of the Organization began to come to stand by his side. Most of them remained indifferent, some were grinning as callously as the Superior himself. Axel and Demyx on the other hand…looked at them with absolute, apologetic misery. They didn't want to do this. But Xemnas was holding their strings too tight to leave any room for them to fight. Dlexa glanced back at Roxas and Sora before looking back toward Xemnas with a dangerous, spark-infused glare in her eyes.

It was time to make this man pay.

….

I actually am quite proud of how I didn't need to part this chapter at all! ~claps~ Hopefully this chapter doesn't feel too rushed. I didn't want to spend too much detail on Sora and Roxas meeting, Sora and Leda re-meeting and Sora and Dlexa meeting. I just didn't want to glomp too much together, you know? ;o; Ohs, I hope I did okay. Critique is lovely!~

Anyways…after this there will only be five more chapters to go, which also includes the epilogue. So now we're getting down to the big, all-out battle. Hopefully it doesn't take me too long to write the next chapter and then post it….As always, thank you to the people who are still along for the ride. It means an utmost deal to me; you truly couldn't imagine. ;w;

~Cutevampirecollie


	10. Chapter 9- Not over yet

Wow…onto chapter 9…I know I'm going finish this story because Dlexa and Leda are both so important to me…but it still feels so surreal to have gotten this far. And in a good amount of time, too! Hee, ish so proud! ^w^ Anyways, I'm not going to ramble for long this time, so I hope you enjoy. And…please don't be mad at Dlexa for something she has to do in this chapter. It was so Roxas didn't have to…I'll put it that way. Wow, already left you with a cliffie and these are only my author's notes. XD Anyways…as per usual…

This is dedicated to my dearest darlings, they know who they are….I've already said their names quite profusely. XD And as always, I do not own Kingdom Hearts. The rights and characters belong to Square Enix and Disney. Leda and Dlexa belong to me.~

Enjoy!~

….

Dlexa looked back between Roxas and Sora and then back at the fight looming in front of them. All of the Organization…_at once?_ Dlexa gritted her teeth and clenched her fingers even tighter around Oblivion. She felt Leda inside of her, as always, trying to calm her down, murmuring soft, reassuring nothings to her and only her, and Dlexa managed to just take a few deep breaths in and out as an exercise to keep calm.

"Oh….and do not think you'll be able to get to me before defeating the others," Xemnas taunted from his position behind the other members. Dlexa scoffed angrily. "This coming from the man who has to use others as a shield for himself?" A few more tense, wild seconds passed before Dlexa let loose a battle cry resembling a high-pitched grunt, and ran forward, beginning to swing her keyblade at anyone who stood in her way.

First up was Xigbar. Dlexa couldn't help but smirk. After all the crap he had made her put up with, she was going to have fun with this. Granted, she didn't want to take anyone's life…but if it was the only way to get to Xemnas, then so be it. Besides, Xigbar was just an arrogant jerk. She wouldn't feel _too_ bad about ridding the worlds of that.

She swung her keyblade at him, missing him by only just an inch as he quickly ducked out of the way. Dlexa growled and swung again, only to have the older man teleport away from her. "Cheater…" she growled under her breath. The man only smirked at her, shrugging as if to say that there wasn't anything he could to do to help the fact she was a weakling. Her glare became murderous.

Both Sora and Roxas were busy with Xaldin and Vexen, Lexaeus coming to their aid, making it two versus three so Dlexa was absolutely on her own against the free shooter. She jumped, aiming for him again, and this time, managed to clip him as he tried to dodge. "What's the matter, old man, your age crippling your ability to fight?" Dlexa knew she shouldn't be taunting the man considering she was having a tough time fighting him, but it was in her nature to be cocky and defiant. She wasn't sure if they were traits she had gotten from Leda, but either way, it wasn't the time to be thinking about things like that.

Lost in her thoughts, she almost got hit by an array of bullets sent her way, but quickly managed to duck and roll out of the way. "Fira!" She yelled, pointing the blade of her keyblade at Xigbar. She hadn't always been the best of magic users but her aim was good enough on its own that the hit managed to be a success. He staggered back and Dlexa feinted left, then jumped right to guarantee that her second spell would be a direct hit as well. After that, it was pretty easy to take Xigbar down, even with the fact that he would sporadically teleport and become even more of a nuisance.

All Dlexa had to do was hit him with Oblivion, make sure her hit was full-on and then just keep hitting, so fast that there was no time for him to teleport, or even dodge. And as the man began to fade from existence, as Nobodies did not leave bodies behind, Dlexa hated to admit that she felt a quick, short stab of regret. He had hurt Leda, too and that thought made the self-loathing ease slightly.

Her attention then quickly turned to Roxas and Sora's fight. They had managed to take Xaldin down and were still on Vexen. It didn't help that along with Lexaeus' brute strength, Zexion was deciding that illusions made fun play toys in a battle. Dlexa pursed her lips tightly together and started running toward the blond scientist. "You two, go! Take care of Lexaeus and possibly Zexion. I'll help once I'm done with Iceman over here." Sora nodded and instantly moved toward the silent hero. Roxas hesitated, his eyes showing concern for her but Dlexa gave him a tight smile and nodded. "Go. I'll be fine."

He finally managed a nod and then ran to help Sora. Dlexa couldn't help but start to pant at that point. They weren't even halfway through all the members yet and Dlexa already felt as if she had run numerous miles on a rocky road, in the burning sun, with no water or food in her system. And that did not feel good. Vexen, being the genius that he was, sensed that and smirked at her. "Ah, it seems my little experiment is getting tired. Maybe she needs another dose of her _medicine_?" Dlexa's blue eyes narrowed. "Fuck you!" She spat, instantly going in closer for a more effective hit. Oblivion met with Vexen's shield, resulting in a loud clang and forcing Dlexa back a couple steps.

Dlexa tried to run back for another swing with her keyblade but she found she couldn't move her feet. Actually…she couldn't even feel them. She looked down and saw that both of her legs from the knees down were encased in a mixture of frost and ice. She growled deeply in her throat and began to hack away at the solid substance covering her with her thankfully sturdy, sharp-edged weapon.

She managed to get one foot free as Vexen, having had enough of waiting, came forward with his shield, ready to pummel her with it. Even with one foot free, she could only edge away so much. She fell flat on her butt as she tried to back up with only one foot free and winced, shutting her eyes tightly as she waited for the impact to come. It never did. She slowly, warily opened her eyes and saw Roxas in front of her, both of his keyblades up in front of him, forming an X to stop Vexen's attack from making contact.

After that, it wasn't long until Vexen met the same fate as Xigbar and Xaldin, what with the way Roxas began beating the man with not just one, but _both_ of his keyblades. Breathing hard, his nostrils flaring in anger, Roxas shattered the ice trapping her other leg with one single blow from Oathkeeper. "You okay?" She nodded, exhaling harshly in fatigue.

They both looked over and saw that Sora had somehow managed to finish off Lexaeus, not an easy feat considering the man's goliath stature. But he was practically running around in circles in the midst of Zexion's Broadway performance of _Nothing but Illusions._ Roxas and Dlexa immediately ran to help him. If they had thought the previous members had been challenging, Zexion was even worse. There were already numerous copies of him surrounding the three key bearers.

Dlexa looked from side to side, trying to ascertain a way to somehow spot the real Zexion. It took her a couple tries of looking them all over as Sora and Roxas began swinging in the direction of other members that were getting in their way, but then she saw it. At first she thought she was imagining it, but on her second look-around off all the Zexions, she noticed that all of them but one were slightly glimmering in the light.

With the speed and agility of a cheetah she weaved between all the clones and the other members before striking the real Zexion with a blunt edge of Oblivion. The schemer staggered, trying to regain his composure. But he wasn't fast enough. Dlexa swiped Oblivion right across his middle, had to turn her head away at the sight of all the blood that then started spilling from the short man's body, and then out of the corner of her eye, saw him begin to fade away.

Zexion hadn't even been one of the really bad ones, sure he had experimented on her like Vexen had, but…he was quiet and she had appreciated having someone with the ability to shut up. Shaking her head, she instantly surged forward and went after the Luna divider.

He was giving Roxas and Sora what looked like an extremely difficult time, but then again Saix _was _quite known for being vicious, so…It wasn't long until Dlexa figured out that Saix required quite heavily on strength and speed. He was swinging his claymore at her as fast as she had been trying to swing Oblivion the past few minutes, but nothing she tried seemed to be doing anything. Finally, Dlexa had to put an end to all the useless weapon-swinging. "Stop!" Both Roxas and Sora looked at her in surprise, even Saix looked a little stunned.

"Alright…the only way we're going to defeat this brute is with unison, so on the count of three, okay?" All three of them managed to dodge the hit that was sent their way after hearing Dlexa's words and then, "Three!" Saix managed to bring his weapon up to defend himself but with three keyblades now simultaneously pressing down on him, his strength was faltering. And finally his arms gave in, his claymore falling to the ground with a clatter as their keyblades pierced him in unison, then causing him to fade.

Dlexa looked at their next two opponents in horror, her lips parting in surprise – to be honest she had completely forgotten that these two were next- and she couldn't help but shut her eyes, shaking her head in refusal. "_No_…other than Roxas, you two were the only ones nice to me…Axel…Demyx, don't make me do this."

Sora, sensing Roxas' and Dlexa's hesitation had decided to just give up and fight Luxord and Marluxia, who was currently being a thorn in the brunet's side anyway, so why not try and fight a little algae with some fire?

Roxas stood by Dlexa's side, hesitating…they were his best friends…he couldn't defeat them, much less even hurt them. No…

Axel smiled at the two of them sadly. "Sorry you two…but even if we went to your side we'd still end up annihilated. Just by Xemnas instead. Don't make this any harder than it has to be." For someone who was talking about his own imminent death, Axel seemed pretty calm, if the way he was idly twirling his chakrams was any way to judge. Demyx just continued to strum his sitar, though his face was pale in color and he looked quite shaken. "If it's any consolation…we'd rather die by the hands of people we consider friends instead of a pompous prick who just wants power." Demyx laughed weakly, but still lightly strummed his instrument.

The melody was soft and sad…but in it was hope, buried so deep that Dlexa didn't know how she was even hearing it. But then it rose to the surface, like a massive tidal wave, and it actually brought tears to her eyes. She looked at her brother, saw the stricken, almost sick look on his face and then turned back toward the other two, her eyes narrowed in grim determination.

Neither Axel nor Demyx put up any fight as she slashed them both with Oblivion. Because they had been the closest thing to friends she had ever had (though she hadn't really ever talked to them all that much), she had gone for the quick and hopefully as-painless-as-possible way. They faded instantly. Dlexa looked back at Roxas and sighed, putting her hand comfortingly on his shoulder. "I'm sorry…I just…didn't want you to have to deal with being the one to do that. I didn't want to either, but…" Roxas gazed back at her, his eyes glassy and unnaturally bright with unshed tears brimming close to the surface. "I know," he managed to choke out.

Dlexa hesitated, keeping her gaze on him for a few more moments before reluctantly turning back to the battle that lay in front of them. During their little conversation –or _whatever_ it could be called- with Axel and Demyx, Sora had managed to somehow take out both Luxord and Marluxia and start in on Larxene. Dlexa moved in closer to help, though to be honest…Larxene did kind of frighten her…somewhat. The woman was petite and small, but as ferocious as a mother grizzly protecting her cubs.

Roxas could only stand and watch, dazed as his sister and Sora took on the last member of everyone in the Organization that was under Xemnas, well everyone besides themselves. His hands grasped his keyblades tighter. He needed something solid to hold onto…he felt as if he would drown in an endless sea of torment and grief if his hands didn't have anything to grasp. Thankfully they did.

Roxas clenched his teeth together tightly, his eyes becoming bright with profuse and utter rage. He would _not _let his friend's deaths be in vain. With a snarl he ran forward, slamming his keyblade into the blonde's stomach, her stagger afterwards then allowing Dlexa and Sora to deal the finishing blow. Considering how vicious Larxene was, it hadn't been that hard to take her down. Then again…Roxas' rage acting as an adrenaline booster had probably helped.

They all stood panting, their keyblades still up in defensive positions, knowing that their battle was still far from over. They had taken down twelve others but Xemnas was a true force to be reckoned with. Their minds and bodies were still in battle mode, which was a good thing. Adrenaline hadn't worn off yet.

Xemnas' orange eyes were narrowed in silent, fuming anger. He was shocked, to say the least. He had sat back and watched his puppets be destroyed, thinking that only the complete opposite would happen. He had thought that _maybe _they could take down the other members and then collapse, therefore unable to take him on. But he couldn't have been more wrong. And that angered him to no end.

His eyes glowing unnaturally with pent-up anger, he surged forward, slashing at Dlexa furiously. "Very good, _Princess._ I never did tell you that was your title, did I? _The princess of darkness._ But like all princesses…you are a damsel in distress when unable to receive help from others." With a deep, guttural shout, darkness began to fly about wildly all around him. The waves of darkness began to grow and then surround Dlexa, cutting Sora and Roxas out of her sight, completely engulfing her in soulless shadow.

She touched the dark wave and was instantly shocked. It looked like she was now trapped. Well, wasn't that just freaking _perfect? _She only managed to just barely turn around before being assaulted with a barrage of hits, getting thrown back into the wall of darkness each time. Her limbs were now tingling from all the shocks of electricity running rampant through her system, not to mention the fact that this was a _much_ bigger dose of darkness then she needed.

She tried to get back up, only to stumble and fall right back down on her knees. Outside the wall of darkness, Roxas and Sora could only stand there, unable to do anything but try to get through the barrier in front of them and then get hit with volts of electricity each time. And with a second wall of darkness keeping them trapped as well, there wasn't really anything they could do.

Roxas looked up at the dark wave, staring in awed horror at how high it seemed to go…up to the sky and even farther beyond…And his sister was inside of that. There wasn't anything he could possibly hope to do. He growled, flinging Oblivion at the black wall only to get shocked once more, furthering his level of anger. He had already lost his best friends…he would _not _lose his sister, too!

All of a sudden, without his volition, he stumbled to his knees _hard._ Even without an organ beating in his chest, he _knew_. That his sister was in trouble. She could protect herself…she was strong, but even she had limits…and apparently Xemnas had pushed her way past her breaking point. He had to find some way to help. He looked around helplessly, and jumped, sudden and startled as something gently probed his mind. He frowned. It was more memories…more of the ones that weren't his own. He hadn't even realized that there had been any left.

His eyes widened in realization after only a few seconds. That was it…his way to help his sister. He closed his eyes and began to concentrate. On only the memories and his sister trapped inside the darkness and once more needing his help. He dispelled his keyblades and reached his hand out, acting as if he was going to grasp Oathkeeper after re-summoning it. But it wasn't his hand that Oathkeeper ended up in.

Back inside the spinning hell of darkness, Dlexa gasped loudly as a keyblade that wasn't her own entered into her right hand. _Oathkeeper… _"Roxas…" she breathed. She suddenly felt a warm tingling inside of her chest, bringing with it strength that she so desperately needed. Grasping her brother's keyblade tightly, she took control of the new power burning within her and pushed herself to her feet, snarling at that man in front of her, her blue eyes_ burning_ with anger. "Alright…care to start over, Xemnas?"

….

Alright…hopefully that wasn't boring…I don't do battle sequences that often and when I do they're not this long, so critique, as always would be appreciated. I'm really curious to know how I did. Hopefully nothing seemed too rushed. I just didn't want to waste too much time on the fights with everyone else. Xemnas is the real threat here after all. Poor Axel and Demy….it's a good thing I know what I have planned next otherwise I'd be bawling nonstop right now, though I was close to crying when writing my precious Demyx-luff! ;n; But that should reassure you that things will turn out okay. I mean, if I'm not sad…then it's all good. Or better yet, it _will _be.

Also…it probably shows but I forgot Luxord at first. XD I didn't mean to and that was even the reason why I went in numerical order so I wouldn't get confused and forget anybody. Does that seem plausible that they would get fought in order of their ranking? ^^; Hopefully so….^^; So yeah, I just added Luxord in...didn't really bother with him, if you couldn't already tell. Sorry, Luxord. XD;;

Anyways…hope I did okay. And the next chapter should hopefully be up within the next couple of days.

~Cutevampirecollie


	11. Chapter 10- All along

Weeeeee, now it's time for chapter 10! Hee, I'm so happy! ~sway~ Anyway, thank you once again to my two biggest inspirations, not just for this story but in real life as well. Thank you for sticking with it and, of course, supporting me. This chapter might be short, I don't know yet because I haven't written it out yet, but it will also be the end of the battle. There might be some things that are possibly expected but ultimately I'm not sure if there really is any sort of surprise or twist in this one. Oh well….:D

I do not own Kingdom Hearts. The characters and rights belong to Squisney. Dlexa and Leda belong to me. Enjoy!~

….

Dlexa landed on her knee, pausing for only a split second after the direct hit she'd been given, before pushing herself back up and rushing towards her opponent. Xemnas was still so strong…and she even had Oathkeeper…but she _wouldn't_ give up. With a snarl, she blocked the man's oncoming attack and pushed him away with a dangerous swing of Oathkeeper.

It was a slow process but she was beginning to see the obvious signs of Xemnas' dimming strength. His breathing was labored and his body was shaking, although that could have been from his utter rage at this whole situation. It was a thought Dlexa would have to ponder later. She dodged his next few hits, ducking and weaving quickly out of the way, before landing two separate blows, one with Oblivion and the other with Oathkeeper. He sunk down to his knees, panting, his lungs obviously burning at having to retrieve more air under such duress. The brunette couldn't find it even in the deepest part of her to feel sorry for this poor excuse for a man even though he was currently helpless and down on his knees.

She pointed the blade of Oblivion at the man's head, her glare only deepening. She was set and ready to then strike with Oathkeeper but it was at that particular moment that Xemnas sharply and suddenly rose back to his feet. Dark volts of electricity swam around him, proving he had more power to give, however much it was, and making it seem that if he didn't release said power soon he would explode.

With a roar that was _nearly_ soul shattering and could rival that of a lion's, Xemnas spread his hands out to his side, the darkness around him becoming more frantic, growing in excitement. All it took was the blink of an eye for Xemnas to summon numerous Shadows from his very own darkness. And just like in the stained glass picture of Leda in the Station of Awakening, they began to amble about, quickly surrounding Dlexa. Dlexa quickly sidestepped as one jumped up and tried to claw at her chest so it could get to her heart.

She looked around frantically, not knowing what to do. Yellow eyes stared at her, each and every single pair glowing oh so hungrily, making Dlexa gulp and take another couple steps back. Wait a minute…these were the creatures that had eaten her Other's body…and she was just going to stand here and let them do the same to her? She shook her head defiantly, angry at herself for her needless fear. She had just been surprised, but they were only Shadows…and how did one go about destroying shadows…? "Light." Her lips curled into a smirk as she held Oblivion behind her so as to not be tempted to strike with it, and then surged forward, swinging Oathkeeper, hitting, demolishing, beating these tiny, dark creatures with only her brother's keyblade. The one that symbolized light itself.

Soon enough all of the horrid creatures disappeared as their bodies were destroyed, leaving Dlexa panting for breath and struggling to keep herself upright as vertigo began to hit her senseless. They hadn't been that tough but there had been quite a few of the little heart-stealing demons…and in high numbers even the smallest of creatures could be hard to vanquish.

Xemnas growled, the sound loud and deep and full of nothing but frustration and anger. He was supposed to be winning this battle. And so far…Dlexa had the upper hand. They were both extremely tired and weak, neither having much energy left to fight with. But he did have one more trick that was sure to work…and with Dlexa looking like she could keel over at any second, Xemnas managed a sadistic smirk and used all that was left of his power to summon yet another creature from the darkness.

Dlexa's eyes bulged wide with fear, her lips made an effort to move but no sound was coming forth. Ah, he had scared the girl speechless. Maybe victory wasn't as far away as he had momentarily thought it would be.

Dlexa felt numb. From head to toe. As she was backing away from the dark creature looming in front of her, she felt her level of fear rising. To an unbearable height. She hadn't even been any part at all in defeating the Darkside that had been inside of her. How was she supposed to beat one all by herself? She was very tempted to just sit down, curl up and die right there on the ground. Everything suddenly seemed hopeless and it wasn't like she had any hope of her own.

"_The situation may seem hopeless….but there's always hope. If you can hold hope within your heart…the future lying right before your eyes isn't as hopeless as you might think. Come on, Dlexa….you can do it!" _

Dlexa exhaled, releasing the breath she hadn't even been aware she'd been holding. Leda was…right. Besides, wasn't she fighting for Leda? How could she be willing to give up so easily…? With a soft growl, Dlexa clenched her fists and shook her head. This wasn't just her fight. This was Leda's, too. She wasn't alone…

She gripped Oathkeeper and Oblivion tightly in her hands, inwardly cringing at how much everything inside of her hurt, her muscles, her mind, her heart…this battle was truly a fight to the end. But it wouldn't be her end. Narrowing her eyes, she ran forward and began striking the creature, left, right, up down, side to side…it didn't seem to be as strong as the other one had been and for that, Dlexa was truly grateful. It clawed blindly as its body was ravaged with pain, thankfully missing her every time, as it wasn't paying any attention to where it was swiping. One last hit with both of her keyblades and then the monster's decayed body began fading. It howled with rage, reaching with its claws one last time, and this time its hit connected with the person responsible for destroying it, sending Dlexa backward and harshly down onto the ground.

Both keyblades fell from her limp grasp and clattered to the ground beside her as the creature, giving one last desperate shriek, faded away from existence completely. Dlexa was unable to move, her eyes fluttering closed after seeing the walls of darkness surrounding her slowly fade away. And then…blissful silence.

Only a few minutes passed before Dlexa was being violently shaken, her eyes then jolting open and landing on the person now holding her. Roxas was staring at her with absolute fear, his shadow blue eyes wide with horror. "Dlexa? Lex? Come on!" Dlexa had to blink a couple of times before the blurry world around her decided to stop spinning and settle back into the clearer picture that it was meant to be. "Roxas? What the heck….? No need to look so worried. Geez, have _some_ faith in me." She managed a small, though completely tired and worn out smile. Roxas sagged with relief, heaving a sigh that released all of his tension.

Odd, low moans could be heard from not too far away and Dlexa leaned up with her brother's help to get a better look. It was Xemnas…except his body was slowly being eaten by darkness, parts of him beginning to vanish. "I've been out for what – a couple minutes?-and he's still fading? He's got to be in some serious pain." Though to be honest, Dlexa still couldn't give a damn. That man had put her and the others by her side through hell. Roxas and Sora simultaneously snorted, shaking their heads. "Yeah, like we're supposed to care. It was his own fault," Roxas said, his expression softening as his gaze met Dlexa's.

Dlexa smiled gently at her brother and then at Sora. "Thank you." She didn't just say it for only the two people in front of her but also for the one person_ inside_ of her. She wouldn't have been able to do any of this without them. Both of the boys just grinned and Dlexa felt her heart become warm with gratitude and love. Dlexa somehow knew that was Leda's way of smiling in response to her comment, even though the two of them were not standing face to face.

"Hmm?" Dlexa's attention turned toward something now hovering above the place where Xemnas had once been. A…._heart_… "What…?" Both Sora and Roxas looked at where her eyes had landed and gasped at what they saw. The heart was slowly fading as well, apparently having somehow outlasted its owner. And Dlexa knew – though Nobodies were not supposed to have hearts- that the heart had belonged to Xemnas. It was dark and cracked at the edges…it had obviously suffered greatly because of the darkness Xemnas had allowed inside him in his lust for power.

The sad thing was, it wasn't gray or even a pale red like a heart should have been…it was completely black…Xemnas had let his lust for power grow so strong that he had ultimately poisoned his own heart, decaying it completely. Dlexa thought that it should have been turned to stone after all it had been through. She would have been surprised if – deep down inside- the heart had still been able to beat.

"Wow…I really thought that we didn't have hearts…" Roxas murmured, staring in awe at the small, hovering object. The heart, though still fading, floated over to Dlexa. Dlexa reached out her hand slowly and allowed it to hover above her palm. The bottom edge of the black heart nudged her hand and the cracks in it became larger until it quietly shattered, leaving a smaller, pale red heart in its place. "You cured it…you broke the dark shell holding it in place," Sora said quietly. Dlexa shook her head silently. "If only you had a home to go back to now…but the body you belong in is gone."

The short-haired brunette sighed, fraying her sweaty bangs. "This is what his heart could have been if he had just let his stupid love for power go…" She ever so gently tapped the base of the heart with her palm, allowing it to float out of her hand and up into the sky, watching in silence as it then faded completely. "I think…." She said after a few more moments of silence, "that a Nobody's heart is just buried so deep that it takes a lot of effort to reach it. I don't think our kind has even been truly heartless…"

"You're_ not," Leda giggled, smiling. _Dlexa couldn't help but roll her eyes. "Yeah, thanks to you," she muttered under her breath, unable to keep herself from smiling.

"So…what about Kingdom Hearts? If we already have hearts what will happen when it's completed?" Roxas brought his hand up to this chin in thought. Dlexa managed to pull herself to her feet and just shook her head, smiling. "I think…that maybe it's not meant to be completed. To be truly complete, wouldn't it need the heart of every living person amongst all our worlds? To be honest…I don't know why it exists or if it ever will be complete."

Sora smiled and crossed his arms behind his head, completely at ease now that everything was back to what probably wasn't normal but was the only thing passable. "Besides…we don't need to worry about it now, do we? It's not causing any harm." Dlexa nodded. "Yeah…Sora's right. No use worrying about the future when it's not even here yet, right?" Dlexa felt her heart begin to hum with pleasure as Leda's warm, sunny laugh filled her mind. _"I've been trying to tell you that all along." _

….

Not sure if I should have started it out differently or not, but…I think I ended on a pretty good note. ^^ As always, I would love to know what you think. ;w; And how I could improve, etc… Really hope things don't seem too fast-paced or anything; I just don't want to spend forever on details. I mean, for instance, I love the Inheritance series but the author uses way too much freaking detail. That's why it's hard for me to read the books…and I don't even know half of the bigger words he uses. So, what I'm trying to say is, I want to be thorough but I don't want to bore anyone or waste words on something that isn't so important…does that make sense? ^^;

Hope you enjoyed! If you have any questions, please feel free to ask.~

~Cutevampirecollie


	12. Chapter 11- Bittersweet

Alright, this is the second to final chapter before the epilogue. So we're very close to the end. I hope I'm not boring people. ^^; Once again, I'd like to thank my two lovelies as always but this chapter I'd also like to give a shout out to Elizabeth0058 for her last two reviews. She's really made my day!

Also, as always, I do not own Kingdom Hearts. The rights and characters belong to Squisney. Leda and Dlexa belong to me. So let's get right to it, shall we?

Enjoy!~

….

"I totally just realized that I've been forgetting something this whole time…." Sora laughed nervously, rubbing the back of his head self-consciously. Dlexa and Roxas both blinked, looking at him curiously. "What could you possibly be forgetting?" Dlexa couldn't help but ask, racking her brain to come up with an answer but remaining completely clueless.

"When Leda used your body and came to find me alongside Roxas, I was in Hollow Bastion at the time. I knew I had to find you again so with the help of some of my friends I was looking for you." Roxas instantly got what Sora was trying to say. "And you were so focused on me and Leda that you completely forgot to tell them you were leaving." Dlexa snorted at her brother's surefire theory. "You would do something like that, Sora." Sora grinned. "You haven't even known me that long and yet I can't bring myself to ask you how you knew that." Dlexa smiled, quickly opening a portal to Hollow Bastion.

"Sora, since we're not sure how darkness completely affects you, just hold my brother's hand since he and I can safely pass through the portals." Sora just nodded, taking Roxas' hand and following them both through.

When they opened their eyes and found themselves all back in Hollow Bastion, Sora instantly went dashing off, praying with all his might that his friends were still here. It had taken him long enough to find Dlexa and he really didn't want to go out on another worlds' tour. "Sora!" The brunet instantly perked up, his face breaking out in a humongous grin as he heard a familiar voice. "Riku!" He ran straight toward the silver-haired boy and caught him in a fierce, almost bone-crushing hug. "I'm guessing you figured things out on your own, huh?" Riku asked dryly, but unable to keep the smile off his face.

Mickey and Goofy and Donald quickly captured Sora's short-span attention and he was caught up in a hug between all three of them as well. "We were worried, Sora!" Goofy exclaimed, happy to see his friend safe and sound right before his eyes. "Yeah, you need to stop running off on your own!" Donald squawked, jumping up and down indignantly, making Sora laugh.

All other sound instantly stopped as soon as Riku said, "So…_you're_ Leda's Other…? I knew there had to be a reason why you felt like her." Dlexa blinked, her doe blue eyes gazing at the strange boy warily. What was up with his blindfold? Riku, sensing her tension, quickly held out his hand. "I'm Riku. It's nice to meet you." Dlexa took his hand timidly and shook it. "I'm Dlexa. Why are you…wearing our coat?" Riku smiled somewhat bitterly. "The blindfold makes you curious, too, huh? Let's just say that without them, the darkness inside my heart gets a little more… free reign, so to speak…." Dlexa tilted her head to the side. Well, that was interesting. She had no idea that the Organization's cloaks could protect others from darkness. Maybe if she had actually worn hers, it might have made things somewhat easier. "You have darkness, too? It's good to know I'm not the only one. If you want…" Dlexa rubbed her arm, shifting restlessly, nervously before she was able to continue. She had just met this person and yet…he was like her. Helpless against the darkness. She felt like it was her duty to help him. "I could have Leda help me help you. Darkness can be strong, but…it's not undefeatable."

Riku's lips parted in surprise and his eyes, underneath the blindfold, widened. Then he smiled. "Thanks." Even though Riku was now feeling a little brighter…the whole conversation was just bringing Sora down. Mickey looked up at his spiky-haired friend, his ears twitching as he picked up on the discomfort. He jumped up onto Sora's shoulder. "You're thinking about Leda, aren't you?" Under the King's scrutinizing gaze, Sora couldn't help but nod.

"I just wish that the darkness hadn't taken her away from me. It sucks not having her right here next to me." Dlexa stepped toward Sora, placing a hand on his shoulder. "I know this probably won't help, but…she is still inside me. She _is_ standing next to you, just inside of me. And…after all that she's done for me…I'll try and find a way to bring her body back and give her my heart." "Hey, that wouldn't work for everyone, you know? What about me; you're really willing to leave me?" Roxas couldn't keep the hurt expression off his face.

Dlexa shook her head, thoughtfully. "Okay, we could split her heart and each take a half. There, you feel better now?" Roxas frowned, tightly pursing his lips, but decided to just let it go. For now at least. Sora smiled at Dlexa, feeling slightly better at her words. He was feeling his spirits lifting, his hope renewing. "Thank you, Dlexa."

Everyone was so absorbed in their own little world that none of them noticed two figures walking toward them until they were already there. Riku and Mickey were the only ones that recognized them. "Namine! Diz! What are you two doing here?" Mickey said in surprise. Diz only smiled at the black mouse, Namine standing behind him timidly, wringing her hands together repeatedly as a nervous gesture. "Who are they?" Sora, Dlexa and Roxas all asked in unison.

The man in the in the long robe with red bandages covering half of his face stopped in front of the trio, his visible eye gazing at them carefully. "My name is Diz and I have come for two reasons. First of all…to thank you. You have ultimately saved all our worlds, keeping them not only connected but alive. Now they will be able to regain the strength and hope they had once lost. Your light and your darkness have brought balance to push everything back into place."

There was a pregnant pause before he continued. "Secondly…I feel some explaining is in order. Now, I would like all of you to keep in mind that ever since the worlds began dying, I have taken a fond interest in learning the possible ways to save them. So I know all about the keyblades. And why you all have them. It may seem like I know a lot, but my research is the thanks for that. Regardless, I would like you to know that it's truly remarkable that you two," he said, motioning to Dlexa and Roxas, "have managed to gain your own personalities instead of just becoming copies of your significant Others.

"Originally, you, Roxas, were meant to fade back into Sora, seeing as you came from him in the first place. But you've learned to live on your own, as your own person. That still does not change the fact that you are the other half of Sora. Do not fear…you don't have any need to worry about fading away. I believe as long as you and Sora live side by side that things will be alright."

The blonde-haired girl behind him suddenly made a move to step forward. "My name is Namine. I'm actually the other half of Kairi." She smiled timidly at Sora, blinking blue big eyes at him. "I…also have the power of rearranging the memories of you and those connected to you. The Organization made me change your memories of Leda making it so that you wouldn't realize she was missing." The petite girl sighed sorrowfully. "But I couldn't stand the fact you didn't know the truth and didn't think about her as she deserved to have you to. I was all ready to change them back but you remembered on your own. You really love her, don't you?"

Sora blinked, unable to keep from smiling. Even though this girl had just told him she had messed with his memories, he couldn't find it in himself to be mad at her. Maybe it was the fact that she hadn't wanted to in the first place, or maybe because she seemed so sweet and _was_ truly sorry…maybe because things turned out alright anyway…Sora didn't know. "Yeah, I do," he murmured softly, making Namine smile gently at him.

Knowing that her apology was the only reason Namine had come along, Diz took a couple steps forward so that their eyes all landed on him once more. "That is all the two of us have to say. If you ever have any questions, Riku and Mickey will know where we are. I would also like to forewarn you that even with the worlds safe once more, danger still lurks around every corner. Do not be careless."

The man turned and began make his leave, Namine following quickly in his stead, when Dlexa yelled, "Wait!" Diz paused, turning his attention back to Leda's Other. "Yes?" Dlexa hesitated, before stepping toward him and taking a deep breath. "You contain much knowledge. About things that no one should even know... Do you know if it's possible to give a part of your heart to someone else?"

Diz gazed curiously at the girl, her question having awakened wonder within his mind. "That is something I sadly do not yet know. And now you have me wondering if it's possible. You say that for the sake of your Other, do you not?" Dlexa nodded. "If you can keep a strong resolve, you can try to make it happen. I doubt it's impossible but that is for you to figure out for yourself." Dlexa frowned thoughtfully. "If I were able to succeed…how would she get her body back? The darkness…destroyed it."

The elder man managed a small smile at her words. "A Nobody is a being that is not meant to have a heart. Yet you and even the others…somehow do. I think the bond between the two of you would be enough to pull her damaged body away from the shadows and then put it back together. It would take time, but…I think you are quite capable. We shall see, won't we?"

He and Namine walked away once more, no one moving to stop them this time. They were all awestruck by his words. Maybe there was a way to save Leda. Dlexa sighed quietly, heavily, a fat, rain-filled storm cloud weighing down on her heart. She wanted to be able to do all those things _now_…she wanted to give Sora back the person he cared most for, while also staying by her own brother's side. Regret stabbed her forcefully, making her wince.

"_Hey. No need to worry. So you can't do it now…that doesn't mean you might not be able to do it later. Sure…I want to be with Sora again, but like you said…I'm inside you so I'll still be with him. Just in a different way. Even if you can never give me back half of my heart and return my body to me…I'll be okay. Promise." _

Dlexa blinked at the words being uttered inside her soul. Then she slowly smiled. "Okay." And though her heart was still heavy, some of the pressure had just been taken off, making her feel a sense of relief. Maybe things could actually be okay, either way. Whether she succeeded in her goal or not.

….

Alright, so this chapter's a little short, but hey, still one more and an epilogue to go. So stay tuned, kay! As always, critique is one of my best friends. ;w; I hope Diz's appearance doesn't seem too random, Or Namine's for that matter. I just needed some things explained and Diz was the one who wanted to answer all the questions and clear everything up, apparently. And I can just picture Namine wanting to apologize for messing up Sora's memories. Diz has her under his wing anyway, so…but I digress…I just hope it's as good as I want it to be. And I hope where I decided to end it doesn't seem off either.

Thanks for reading and hope to see you next chapter as well.

~Cutevampirecollie


	13. Chapter 12- The Rebirth of Light

Alrighty, here we are on the last chapter! After this, all that's left is the epilogue. Woooooo! :D Anyways, I hope you've enjoyed the ride so far and I hope that I'm not boring you with this important, but short chapter.

The people who this story is dedicated to…you know who you are and I love you both. ~hugstightly~ I hope you're enjoying this most of all. ^w^

And as always, I do not own Kingdom Hearts or its characters. The rights belong to Square Enix and Disney. Dlexa and Leda belong to me.~ So…without further ado…

Enjoy!~

….

"_I'm sorry…" The words were only just barely audible to the pigtailed brunette, and as the words registered, she slowly tilted her head to the side, questioningly. "Sorry for what?" Her bright blue eyes met Dlexa's shadowed blue eyes. "I'm sorry that I had to be such a brat throughout all of this." Dlexa looked down, her eyes filled with quiet anguish. "I acted in fear…I just wanted to spite you. I now know that I shouldn't have acted that way. You gave me a heart…you gave me Roxas…and there's no way I could repay you for that." _

_Understanding finally dawned on Leda, a smile breaking out onto her face. "You don't have to be sorry. I did some questionable things as well. I shouldn't have gotten mad at you whenever you just called yourself a clone of me. I should have tried to understand because… you _are _another me. If I had been in your place, I would have hated me, too. But…you're not just another me. You're a _part_ of me. _My other half._ But you'll have to always remember that you and I are _different_ halves. That's like…putting two of the same puzzle pieces together and expecting them to fit. It won't work." _

_Leda shook her head, the smile still in place, her blue eyes shining quietly but fiercely. "But if you put two different puzzle pieces together that are meant to fit, they'll fall right into place. Besides…why would you need to apologize when you're the one who saved me?" Dlexa blinked, a frown quickly marring her lovely, heart-shaped face. "Saved you? From what?" Leda giggled quietly. "From the darkness, duh." Dlexa's frown eased slightly at her Other's words but she still was confused. "You saved me from the darkness, too. It's for that reason that…I wish I could find some way to give you your heart back, or at least give you half of it back." _

_Leda took a step toward Dlexa and held out her hand with her palm facing up. There was a tiny burst of light and when it faded, a small, red heart was left floating in the brunette's hand. "This is our heart. But it belongs in your body. I gave it to you so you could protect Sora. If you hadn't come along…even with the burning need to protect Sora, I probably would have given up. You kept me alive and kept me fighting. This heart belongs to you." And with those words said, Leda tapped the heart with her palm, sending the little object over to Dlexa. It hovered slowly around her chest for a few moments before connecting with her body and fading back inside of her with a bright, white flash. _

"_Besides…Diz even said that there might be a way someday to get a part of my heart back. So for now, it couldn't be in better hands." Though Dlexa, being the stubborn mule that she was, hated to admit it, Leda's words cut right through her to the deepest part of her core, making her eyes start to water. Her limbs began trembling, her fists tightly clenched. She wasn't normally one for physical affection but she needed to do this. In the time span of a single heartbeat, Dlexa's feet pounded against the stained glass as she ran towards the brunette. She threw her arms around her Other, holding Leda tightly against her. "You're not ever going to leave me, right?" Leda chuckled softly, patting Dlexa's head. "No silly. I live inside your heart. It's my home. Why would I ever want to leave?" _

_After a few moments, Leda untangled herself from Dlexa's grasp and motioned toward the surface they were standing on. It took Dlexa a few moments to realize that the image on the stained glass had changed. No longer was it Leda helpless and surrounded by Shadows. Now, it was Leda and Dlexa, their backs turned toward one another. By Leda's head lay an image of Sora's head surrounded by a heart. And for Dlexa, Roxas' head surrounded by a heart as well. Between Dlexa and Leda, was a red heart, glowing so brightly it seemed almost too real to be just an image on glass. _

"_See, I'm not alone anymore. Thanks to you." Leda smiled gently and Dlexa smiled somewhat timidly in response. "Hey, why don't you take Sora and Roxas for some Sea Salt ice cream? I'm sure they'd like it. Besides, I also want to see the look on my brother's face when he tries it. It'll probably be almost as funny as yours was." Leda smothered her laugh behind her hand and Dlexa tried her best to scowl, but finally had to settle on giggling as well. "Alright, alright. Oh…and before I go…." Dlexa turned away, about to leave, but tilted her head back, her eyes meeting Leda's. "Thank you. For your heart."_

….

"Hey, don't give me that look, Roxas. It was Leda's idea!" Roxas rolled his eyes playfully and Dlexa huffed, crossing her arms. Sora, on theother hand still looked confused. "Wait, what is this thing you guys are taking me to try?" "Seal Salt ice cream," Dlexa and Roxas replied in unison. "Sea Salt…what? Ice cream? Hey, wait, I never agreed to this!" With a unified harmony of giggles, Dlexa and Roxas both took either of Sora's arms and began dragging him toward the clock tower.

Something strange only a few feet ahead of them, however, made them stop. A severely spiky redheaded boy stood alongside a dirty blond with his hair styled in a mix of a mullet and a Mohawk. Dlexa and Roxas both blinked….for a pair of strangers they looked and felt awfully familiar. It wasn't until the men turned around to face them that Roxas and Dlexa knew who they were. The redhead grinned and walked up to them with confident ease, the dirty blond falling behind him at a more leisurely pace.

"Hey, the name's Lea. L-E-A, got it memorized?" Roxas could only gape, but those words were too _Axel_ for this person to be anyone else. "And I'm Edmy. I don't have as cool of a catchphrase as Lea over here, but…" Roxas shook his head, stumbling back in a delayed physical reaction of shock. "I saw you die. I saw you fade away…how?" Lea's catlike grin somehow managed to get a little wider, his green eyes glinting playfully. "How were we able to live as beings that technically had no hearts?" He shrugged. "Those are the questions I don't think we'll ever have the answers to."

Edmy put a hand on Roxas' shoulder, smiling as well. "You really need to get it memorized, Rox." Suddenly things just seemed so normal again, like they had been before. It was him, Axel and Demyx back in one of their rooms just having fun being with each other. Except now they were Lea and Edmy versus Axel and Demyx, and Sora and Dlexa were also along for the ride. Roxas couldn't help but laugh at Edmy's words, the other two starting to laugh as well. Dlexa smiled. "Good to have you guys back. Really…I…_we _missed you. But, seriously, how did you guys…don't you have any idea?" Lea pursed his lips in an act of contemplation. "Maybe because the worlds are safe again. The power of light. Kingdom Hearts. It could really be a number of things…"

Dlexa waited for an answer from Leda, wanting to see what the brunette's theory was. _"Axel, I mean, _Lea,_ could very well be right. Maybe this is one of those things where we're just not meant to know the answer." _Dlexa nodded slowly. "Maybe you're right." The worlds truly did rely on balance to keep them safe. You needed good, but you also needed bad. Light and darkness were two things that every world and every person needed to have. The two opposites had already proven how weird things could become in an everyday life. Even if said life wasn't necessarily normal…

"So things are okay for now?" Dlexa murmured quietly, so only Leda could hear. _"Yeah. So just relax and go have some Sea Salt ice cream, okay?" _Dlexa smiled and quickly grabbed Lea by the arm, pulling him along behind her, watching with a soft, feathery happiness as Edmy, Roxas and Sora all began following, their faces glowing. Yeah, things were definitely okay for now.

….

Wow, okay, that was short, and I also felt I jumped around a little too much in this chapter…Did I or am I just being a paranoid perfectionist? ^^; I can never tell anymore…Critique, as always is wonderful and I would love to know what you liked and didn't like. Um….and again, this isn't the end. There's still the epilogue to go! :D Yay. Also…sorry I did not mention the others getting their hearts back. Demyx and Axel were friends of Roxas and Dlexa so they were the most important. ^^

~Cutevampirecollie


	14. Epilogue

Alrighty…and here's the epilogue! Hopefully everyone's still with me. If I've been boring you, I apologize. ^^; Anyway, because this story is finally coming to a close…I would like to take some time to thank a few people. I've done this in all the chapters prior but this being the epilogue, I would like to thank everyone properly. ^^

All my reviewers…if you've left even only one comment, it means the world to me so thank you. You know who you are. ^w^

I'd also like to once again thank two very dear people to me; Aviditty…you've stuck by my side and we've known each other for what feels like forever, and for that I'm glad. I'm glad to have met not only such a wonderful friend but a wonderful, talented and beautiful (on the inside _and_ outside) person. You've stuck by my side even through the bad times and you've helped shape me into the writer and artist and person I am today. You are so inspiring and can't wait to read more of your things as well. ^^ Love you, sweetheart! ;w; Sadlonelylittlegirl…we have not known each other long, but it feels as though we have. We still have a lot to learn about one another and I for one, cannot wait until the day we get to meet in person. You have given my story such love that I feel sometimes as if I don't deserve it. Your characters (especially Kumiko) and your works inspire me so much and have helped Dlexa and Leda's story come this far when I thought it was going to stay in storage forever. It's become a great story thanks to you. You gave me the inspiration needed to fix a lot of the things that I didn't even know needed fixing. Thank you and I can't wait until we learn more about one another. And I also can't wait for the next chapter of darling Kumiko's story! ;u; Love you, dearest!~

Dlexa and Leda….my precious, very loved characters…you've shaped yourselves so beautifully and though it's taken awhile to get to where you are now…it was for the better. I would not dream of changing the people you two have become. You may be just characters to other people but you're **my** characters, therefore you're real to me. Thank you for being, though stubborn at times (*cough* Dlexa *cough*), so willing to help me write the two of you well so that your story could be the best it could be. I love you both and for anyone reading this, yeah, I may be stupid for thanking my own characters but I love them so I don't care what you think. Also…if you couldn't already guess…Dlexa and Leda belong to me. *growls possessively*

Finally, my thanks and praise goes to God. I know not everyone, including my readers is Christian but I personally believe in Him and would like to thank Him for blessing me with the gift and talent of not only art in general, but writing as well. It's such a joy to write and I get to do it and am good at it because of Him.

Alright, so I know a lot of you are probably wondering why I did a thank you list just like one you'd see in a CD…Not only is this story now finished, hence this being the epilogue, but this is the first multi-chapter story of mine that I have finished. No, I'm not kidding. The very first ever multi-chapter story to be finished is this one you're reading right here. And I'm super proud so I had to make a list of thank-yous so I could give credit where credit is due.~ Anyways, enough rambling. Kingdom Hearts belongs to Square Enix and Disney, rights and characters respectively. Dlexa and Leda, of course are mine.

Enjoy!~

...

"Alright, so I've introduced you to Kairi and showed you around the islands…what's next? I feel like there was something else I wanted to do…" Dlexa couldn't help but laugh at Sora's adorable puzzled expression. She, Roxas and Sora were all on Destiny Islands, Sora's home, and had just been hanging out and having fun with one another the whole day.

And of course, the others had come along, too. Lea was currently stuffing his face with any food within his reach, whether it was of the barbeque variety or the tropical fruit, native to the island variety. Edmy was at Lea's side, laughing and making fun of the fact that no matter how much Lea ate he never seemed to get full. The other ex-Nobodies were lounging around other, more secluded parts of the island, though some had decided to stay in Twilight Town, where they had been reborn; others had gone back to The World That Never Was, claiming it was the only world they knew; and then the rest of them had gone back to their own worlds, seeing if they could regain the lives they had lost.

"Silly, Sora," Dlexa laughed, ruffling the boy's fluffy, brown spikes, "you're so forgetful." Sora's lips came together cutely, forming a pout on his tan, childlike face. Dlexa had to hold the back of her hand against her lips to stifle yet another laugh. Roxas, on the hand just decided to laugh, not bothering to hold it back at all. Finally, Sora's eyes widened in realization. "Oh! That's right…I wanted to share something with you guys. Be right back!"

The brunet jumped up and darted away quicker than both Dlexa and Roxas thought humanly possible, leaving them blinking after him in puzzled confusion. Dlexa looked at her brother curiously and Roxas just shrugged, shaking his head. The curious, oddball of a creature sitting on Dlexa's lap, that Sora had introduced her to, jumped up onto her shoulder and began to play with her short, cropped hair, cackling with glee at getting to use its claws.

"He's weird. What did Sora say his name was again? Stitch?" Roxas looked at the blue animal now atop his sister's head and pursed his lips, not sure if he liked the way it was messing with her hair. Dlexa laughed quietly. "_You're_ weird. And yes, his name is Stitch." The two of them were quiet for a couple minutes more as they watched the sun begin its slow descent beyond the horizon.

Dlexa reached a hand up toward Stitch and began to pet him gently, running her fingers through his soft, blue fur. "I don't think I've ever thanked you." Roxas turned his head toward his sister, frowning in surprise at her comment. "For what?" Dlexa smiled and laughed, shaking her head as if it were obvious. "For treating me like a sister this whole time even when all I did was barely treat you nicely at all. You never gave up on me and I've come to realize…that I've needed that. This whole time I've needed someone who wouldn't abandon me and you've been that person. You and Leda both. You helped me to realize that I may be another part of Leda but I'm still also myself and that you care about me because I'm me and no one else."

Roxas could only blink his wide blue eyes at her, his lips parting in shock at her words. But Dlexa wasn't finished yet. She had held all of her feelings in since the beginning of her existence and tried to deny that they were there inside of her and because of that, it seemed that the floodgates were now wide open. Dlexa couldn't stop even if she had wanted to. "I also now know…that I'm going to need that in the future. I'm only…human? Yeah, human…so I'm going to have those moments when I'm negative and am still feeling like I'm nothing more than a clone of Leda. And, this may sound very self-centered but I know you'll be there for me. Alongside Leda and Sora. And I just wanted to thank you….little brother."

Dlexa leaned forward and pulled the blond into a soft, but still crushing hug. The movement startled Stitch, who gave a few alien words of protest as he fell off her head and onto the sand, landing on his butt. Roxas quickly melted into the hug, hugging his sister just as tightly back. As soon as Dlexa let go of him and began to disentangle herself from him, Stitch hopped right back up onto her shoulder and resumed his odd hair-styling techniques.

Roxas smiled at his sister, his eyes shining with the sheen of unshed tears. "The same thing goes for you as well, Lex. Even with Axel and Demyx, though now they're Lea and Edmy, I felt like something was missing. That I wasn't complete. And because of you, that hole that I hadn't even realized was inside of me is now gone, filled completely. Thank you."

Dlexa and Roxas stared at each other, both smiling, a few seconds more before the tender moment between brother and sister was broken as Sora ran back up to them, holding something in his hand. Dlexa didn't recognize it but Leda did the moment she saw it in her brother's hand. "A Papou?" she murmured as Sora sat back down beside them. The brunet's eyes widened. "How'd you know?" Dlexa smiled, a bittersweet tang lacing the upward motion of her lips. "I didn't. But Leda did."

Sora's sky blue eyes suddenly softened. "Yeah, she would know. I actually brought this because I want all of us to share one. …At first, I thought Leda was silly to want to share one, thinking that we would be torn apart if we didn't. So I refused her pleas. I knew she was jealous as soon as she learned I wanted to share one with Kairi. But Kairi was my crush…my best friend. That's why I wanted to share one with her. Because friends do sometimes get torn apart and I didn't want that. But I thought that because Leda was my sister…nothing bad would happen. Pretty naïve of me, huh?" Sora smiled sadly.

Leda, inside Dlexa, ached to hug her brother, to tell him that she understood his reasoning now, and though they couldn't be fully together anymore, she was still with him, just…inside of Dlexa. Dlexa, sensing this, laid a hand gently on Sora's mound of spikes, ruffling them gently. "It's not your fault. She's family. Family isn't something you ever want to be taken away from you, and you didn't want to think that she _could_ be taken away from you. I understand."

Sora, who had been aching to be believed, looked into Dlexa's shadow blue eyes, and somehow he knew that those last words were not only Dlexa's, but Leda's as well. He sighed in relief, though the haunted look didn't completely leave his eyes. "So…want to share it?" Sora's voice had now taken on a pleading tone. He really thought that if they didn't share a Papou fruit they'd be torn apart like he and Leda were. After thinking about it for a couple moments, Dlexa shook her head and giggled.

"I don't think we have to worry if we don't all eat it, Sora. I mean, think about it…you and Leda got separated, and though she's not here in person anymore, she's still inside me. So you're not just beside me right now, but your sister as well. You were separated but you reunited, even if it wasn't in the way you would have exactly wanted it to be. So, I think I'm going to pass on eating the Papou fruit, Sora. Even if we do share it, there's still a chance that we could be taken away from one another. What really matters is finding your way back to the person you care so much for. Fate may be able to tear us apart but it can't _keep_ us apart. We don't need some silly fruit to help us with that. The bond we have connects us, meaning that if we do get separated, we'll find our way back to one another in the end."

Sora and Roxas were both quiet, completely still, and looking very pensive at Dlexa's words. Even Leda was still absorbing all that her Other had said and she slowly began to realize that Dlexa was right. Even with a Papou fruit, she and Sora could have still been separated. It was their strong need to get back to each other that had allowed them to reunite, even though she was now inside of Dlexa. She was still back at her brother's side and that was all that mattered.

Stitch, having been completely oblivious to their conversation suddenly lost his balance on Dlexa's shoulder once more. He landed on his butt into her lap with a plop, blinking up at Dlexa with curious black eyes. "Iki baba!" Dlexa's smile grew, her lips twitching as she tried to keep herself from laughing. She had no clue why, but Stitch's foreign words had sounded like a conformation to her words, as if he agreed with her. And when she heard the musical laughter of both boys beside her and of Leda, inside her heart, Dlexa somehow knew that they had understood and believed in her words as well.

The sun continued to set, bringing with its descent the slow rise of the moon and stars. Looking up at the slowly reversing sky, Dlexa knew that if they ever did get separated in the future, all she would have to do would be to look up at the stars and think of how much she wanted to see these two wonderful people again. She knew that it might be a long journey back…but her love for them, though not having known them long (even though it felt like forever), burned fiercely inside of her. And that would be powerful enough to overcome fate and bring them all together once more. Dlexa really didn't give a crap about what fate thought. They all belonged at one another's sides. Forever.

….

Hope that ending was to everyone's liking. It was probably way too sappy and OOC but it was a happy ending and that's all that matters to me. ^^ I also only mentioned Axel and Demyx/Lea and Edmy because they were friends of Roxas' before, so it makes sense I'd mention them. I also originally wanted to make them eat Sea Salt ice cream on the beach but then I thought about it and realized Sora never ate Sea Salt ice cream on his home world. I'm not sure if they even have it on Destiny Islands. But hey, Papous rock too, right? :D Even though they didn't actually eat the one Sora brought.

Anyways…I'd like to once again thank everyone who's followed this story to the end. It means the world to me. Who knows, there may actually be other worlds out there, so in that case…it means the worlds to me. ^-^ Wow…corny and cliché, right? XD; I know….

~Cutevampirecollie


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